


All Those Lives

by aimlesscoyote, Gabriel Muse (aimlesscoyote)



Series: All That Blood, All Those Lives [2]
Category: Dominion (TV)
Genre: Alpha - Freeform, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Biting, Bondage, Cuddling, D/s, Dominance/submission, F/M, Fighting, Fondling, Forced Submission, Frottage, Gen, Grinding, Hand Jobs, Healing, Imagined Rape, Kissing, M/M, Neck Kissing, Nibbling, Nonconsensual Touching, Nudity, Object Penetration, Oral Sex, Possession, Power Exchange, belt spankings, blatant misuse of a candle, inter-thigh sex, references to rape, uncomfortable lack of personal space, unhappy memory of underage group oral rape, wing-love, wound
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-23 04:33:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 44,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimlesscoyote/pseuds/aimlesscoyote, https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimlesscoyote/pseuds/Gabriel%20Muse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabriel and Alex continue to develop their relationship (begun in <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/4478435">All That Blood</a>).  It is difficult, due to injuries and lack of trust.<br/>This is an (AU) Alternate Universe. It follows Dominion canon in some ways, and not in others.</p><ul>Biggest breaks w/canon:
<li> Gabriel's possession is more intense; he can link deeply w/some and share thoughts/emotions/memory.</li>
<li> Archangels can communicate wordlessly w/any higher angel</li>
<li> Not just feathers but wings can give healing. More powerful the angel, better the healing.</li>
<li> Michael and Gabriel are a couple; Michael has collared Alex; Gabriel and Alex are working on being a couple.</li>
<li> I hope at one point Michael/Gabriel/Alex threesome will manifest.</li>
<li> I'm not quite sure what to do about Alex/Noma.  But I have a feeling Noma's going to tell me.</li>
</ul><p>
  <br/>
</p><hr/><p><br/>Chapter 1 - Rated PG-13<br/>Gabriel wakes up and takes assessment of the situation.  Just a tiny introductory piece; I'm doing what I -never- do and posting a rough draft, since it's dictated straight from Gabriel Muse and he says it's fine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Gabriel Wakes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [All That Blood](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4478435) by [aimlesscoyote](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimlesscoyote/pseuds/aimlesscoyote), [Gabriel Muse (aimlesscoyote)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aimlesscoyote/pseuds/Gabriel%20Muse). 



> ###  **Important 15 Oct 2015 (rev. 7 Nov 15): No copyright infringement intended to the corporate leeches who legally own Dominion. I respect Vaun Wilmott, and write this fanfic in tribute to, not to infringe upon, his work. The series' cancellation changes nothing; Dominion is, and will always be, the creation of Mr. Wilmott and his team.  
> **   
>  My writing herein is ©2015 A. M. Coy; please do NOT redistribute this text anywhere without asking me first.  
>    
>  That said, I've received multiple requests to "write a Season 3." I'll give it my best, but to be honest this is just a small (love?) story about Gabriel and Alex. I would rather take the energy of this project and make my _own_ "Dominion" for everyone to enjoy. If you'd like to help with that original fic project, poke me! I need beta readers :)  
>    
>  In the meantime, while the original fic develops... let's keep the fanfic rolling! 
> 
> * * *
> 
> This is the continuation of the "All That Blood / All Those Lives" fiction.
> 
> QUICK REFERENCE - first part of story: 
>   * Gabriel has beaten Alex into (temporary?) submission and deep-linked with him.
>   * Gabriel and Alex are lovers, but it's uneasy; Gabriel tends to cause pain (intentionally or otherwise) when they interact.
>   * For this reason and others, there are MAJOR trust issues between the two.
>   * Gabriel and Michael are lovers going way back; there is deep love between them, both brotherly and otherwise
>   * Michael has made Gabriel promise to protect Alex
>   * Michael (in the past couple years) has collared Alex; Alex accepts and loves this but does not want to be "property" or a "pet"
>   * Michael (in the distant past) has collared Gabriel; at times Gabriel still tends to be submissive but not always
>   * Michael is none too happy about Gabriel's treatment of Alex
> 

> 
>   
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
>   
> 
> 
> TABLE OF CHAPTERS: 
>   * [Ch.1](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/) \- Rated PG-13
>   * [Ch.2](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11176681) \- Rated R for M/M nudity
>   * [Ch.3](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11244979) \- Rated R for lang., blood, violence, emotion
>   * [Ch.4](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11279863) \- Rated Hard R for mention of M/M sex, fondling, licking, rim-jobs, but no action
>   * [Ch.5](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11299792) \- Rated NC-17 for M/M/F (Gabriel/Alex/Noma) fondling, kissing, object penetration
>   * [Ch.6](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11386831) \- Rated soft NC-17 for M/M/F (Gabe/Alex/Noma) nudity, grinding, biting
>   * [Ch.7](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11416057) \- Rated R for M/M language, nudity, restraints
>   * [Ch.8](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11431318) \- Rated NC-17 for M/M masturbation, hand-jobs, ejaculation and stuff
>   * [Ch.9](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11468452) \- Rated NC-17 for M/M hand-jobs, frottage, belt spankings, noncon, blood, pain
>   * [Ch.10](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11482303) \- Rated PG-13 for M/M fluff with nudity and "cock"
>   * [Ch.11](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11582878) \- Rated R for M/M nudity and sex. suggestiveness
>   * [Ch.12](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11619517) \- Rated NC-17 for M/M nudity, oral, fingering, anal, and memory of underage, group, oral rape
>   * [Ch.13](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4863287/chapters/11757188) \- Rated NC-17 for M/M nudity, hand-jobs, grinding, anal sex, power exchange
> 


**Chapter 17**

It was hard to kill an Archangel. Stunningly, ridiculously hard. But a human? Not so much.

Gabriel lay in the darkness. No matter; he could see in detail all around. And hear—he could pierce the thick stone walls, listen to the trembling breath of the boy who suffered in the room adjacent.

Fragile things, the monkeys. Built of essential proteins, water, trickling electrical balances between things like sodium and potassium. Plus spirit, one mustn't forget that. Crucial, really.

The one next door was losing that precious balance. Brother wouldn't like that. Oh, no. Nor would he, Gabriel reflected, but it really wasn't that important.

He took in a breath. His side reminded him—ever the schoolmarm—that it still held nearly a week's worth of pus and fluid. That was draining, now, but slowly. Purulent fluids seeping down his ribs, like some abhorrent, pestilent beggar.

Gabriel gritted his teeth and sat up, grunting through the ripping "reminders" which held him in check.

Shower, first. Absolutely. Then the boy.

Gabriel clawed his way up from the floor. Archangels do not naturally habitate floors, so this took some work, especially with a half-healed gash from nipple to hip. In doing so, he left gouges on the bedpost to rival marks from impassioned lovers for years to come.

The shower was lovely. Raking against his skin, rattling him to the very core. Gabriel crumpled against the tiles, trying to convince himself that "standing" was a better proposal for cleaning out the wound. He kept the water cold—well, cool. No need to inflame the wound; he wanted to clear it out. He glanced longingly at his medicine cabinet and decided to forego the painkillers. Those made him a tad . . . unpredictable.

He did grab the wine bottle, though. Father bless the dear creatures who first squeezed their grapes and left them to rot in the darkness. They had gotten it perfectly right. . . . Though not right away.

Gabriel drank deeply.

Earlier tonight, he had promised the boy he wouldn't touch him. Or comfort him. Or heal him. A promise already two-thirds broken and completely unwanted.

Earlier this week, he had promised Brother to protect the boy. As in, not to let him die following torture and wounding by one of his soldiers.

Earlier this century, he had promised Father he would kill specifically that very boy. . . . But in the meantime, Father had left. Did that negate the promise?

Quandary.

Gabriel fumbled for the shower knobs.

Towels. Oh, and clothing. Probably an idea. The boy's watchdog Noma frowned upon him imposing his presence whilst nude. Gabriel limped, very cold and stiff but determined, about his quarters.

He found an old robe in his wardrobe—woven but soft, muted browns with a mantle and neck-scarf. He wrapped it around himself, vaguely remembering an older time when he had been quieter inside. There had been no great displays of discipline, back then. There had been no soldiers running amuck. There had been—well, Gabriel, let's not muse on times past, shall we?

He made his way slowly down the hall.  
  
---


	2. Wing-Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated R for M/M nudity.
> 
> Gabriel chooses to heal Alex in the only way he's able, for now. In doing so, he discovers an unexpected truth.
>
>> Gabriel opened his robe; the soft, mottled-brown linen whispered from his shoulders. Then came a second sound, like the rasp of heavy palm leaves in wind. The specialized muscles of his torso flexed; thirty feet of sinew, bone, and feather slid from deep within his back. As his wings emerged, they unfolded and extended, cutting off the feeble candlelight. The boy was cast in darkness, through which Gabriel could plainly see, but he could not.
>> 
>> Nonetheless, Alex lifted his chin bravely. _If you came here for a booty call, you are so out of luck._  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's try shorter chapters for awhile, to encourage more frequent posting. :3 I tried to make this chapter pretty, and promptly mangled the first paragraph. With my apologies (and a cookie) to Gabriel, I hastily restored it. The rest of the chapter is mostly in the state he wants it. ^_^'

**Chapter 18**

"Nomaaaa." His voice remained crooning, but his fist was getting louder on the door. Pounding. Demanding. The polished wood was quaking.

"Go away, Gabriel." She used that offhand, overly-casual tone with which he'd grown unpleasantly acquainted. Gabriel took a deep breath, summoning patience. _She's protecting the boy,_ he reminded himself.

Still. An officer never should use such a tone—not to him. And an officer should open the door on the _first_ request, never mind the third or fourth. Time and familiarity, perhaps, had dulled her discipline. Gabriel would correct that. He cracked his neck.

"Noma." The soft croon hardened, forming a crust of unyielding command. "You will open this door."

Her reply was quiet but firm: "Alex doesn't want visitors."

His voice hardened another notch: "Noma." Even as he spoke, his mind was reaching in toward her.

Possession was a tricky thing. Sliding around an active, conscious mind, feeling it writhe and pulse beneath you, was phenomenal and exquisitely precious. Taking hold of it, yes, slipping _into_ it . . . that was an altogether higher experience. Whether entrance were gained by gentle teasing or by violent thrusts, the result was ever the same: complete surrender, the shuddering of the conquered prey beneath you. Open, yielding, submissive, shocked. Often begging for mercy, as well. And you, the victor, utterly in control.

Gabriel loved possession. He took a deep breath, slipping now across Noma. _Be a good girl,_ his mind breathed to hers—the only warning he would give, and more than most received.

She jerked back, eyes widening at the whisper of his control through her. "I'll open the door!" she gasped.

_Good girl,_ he purred. And let her go.

The lock clicked, and Gabriel strode inside. Immediately the chamber filled his senses: the heady scents of ash and blood; the play of flame across clusters of candelabra; the classic, firm security of stone walls, solid wood, and iron-barred windows.

His mouth pulled tight, breath catching at his movement. The pangs in his side meant nothing, though—he forced his focus upon the bed.

Couched there in shadow was the source of all his troubles. Alex Lannon, the infamous "Chosen One." Not technically a "boy" at twenty-five, but still a child to him. The human was pale, now, his precious markings cloaked beneath stained strip-bandages and costly crimson sheets. His curled blond hair was dark with sweat, his light blue eyes thick-glazed and barely cracked. He lay immersed in pain, chest barely rising for air.

Alex did manage to give the one-finger salute in greeting, though. Joy.

Gabriel stood regarding him from the doorway. "Hours ago you begged me to heal him, Noma. Now you bar the door?"

"Hours ago you said 'no.'" Noma's tone was flat.

"I said it would take time." He fixed her with scorn. "You might have noticed I was wounded."

"And you're still wounded."

Gabriel gave her a steady look. Her brown eyes flitted to his, hard and rippling with layers like tigers eye stones. For an instant they locked, then slowly lowered. Finally, a show of proper respect!

"I will be less wounded after tonight. You will help me, Noma."

"Yes?"

"You know the rules. When one of our kind is in penance, we cannot heal the associated wound. Someone else must. Your part will be easy, then my natural healing will take effect."

"Are you sure?" she murmured. "You've been holding it back for what? A week?"

"I am sure." He moved to the edge of the bed, gazing down at Alex, who frowned up at him. "I will resolve the underlying problem. Then it will heal."

Immediately she was at hand, a hummingbird, moving too fast and unable to settle. She flitted between him and the boy. "Don't touch him," she warned, but in the next breath, like an apology: "I have to keep him safe. He's very weak."

"I'm aware." He exhaled, releasing the air slowly like a breeze across those curls. This close to the boy, he could _feel_ the peculiar prickles, the sinking weakness that whispered of illness and injury. The blood loss, the burns, the shock, he could feel it all, weighing down upon him, yes, and—just at the corner of the eye, boy, there? The shifting shadows of something you do not quite want to see? Yes, boy. That's death.

Gabriel couldn't help it; he reached down, fingers finding the scruff of the boy's chin, following it down to the warmth of his faint pulse.

Noma stiffened, arm extending as if she knew not his true intention. He gave her a single, sideways glance. She backed off.

He spread his hand, cupping Alex's jaw in his palm. He was feeling, holding. Listening. Watching. The human spirit did stretch so thin, when it was about to leave its vessel. Alex's was sheer to his eye, and straining thinner. Yet fighting every inch, as always.

Gabriel nodded grimly. "You stubborn little shit." In the epithet lay approval; Gabriel lifted the boy's chin. "I have said it before, Noma. This boy should have been born an angel. He fights like one of us."

Noma was taken aback. "Coming from you," she replied, "that's quite something."

"Mm. It's no secret that I'm less-than-fond of humanity. But for this one . . . I can make exception."

"When did you change your mind?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Gradually."

Alex's gaze refocused on him. So tired, lids heavy and folded-thick. Too weary to speak aloud, he called out mentally: _Let me go._

Irony creased Gabriel's mouth to a grin. _Not a chance,_ he replied _._ That was the opposite of what he intended. The boy's preference be damned. __

Gabriel straightened. "Listen, Noma. My Lieutenant Nero will be near the throne room. Tell him we need holy salts, bandages, and . . . anything else you like. Tell him it's for the boy. I want no one to know my weakened state." Gabriel glanced over his shoulder. "If he gives you trouble, call me. I'm in a possessing mood."

Behind him, Noma hesitated.

"Go, Noma. And . . . take your time about coming back."

Still she lingered. When she spoke, her voice was defeated and so low that only angelic hearing could pick up: "Please don't hurt him, Gabriel."

Gabriel glanced over his shoulder again. He shook his head.

She bit her dusk-rose-painted lip. He was surprised to find such helplessness in her. Noma, the fierce one? The watchdog, the warrior? So again he reached out to her mind: _I've not come to destroy him, Noma. I've come to set things right._

_Your sense of "right" is what worries me!_ she exclaimed. __

He frowned. "Go."

After she had slipped away, Gabriel tilted his head, regarding Alex. It was so easy to reach him; the connection was always on. It had been what, less than a fortnight, since his possession of the boy had taken root and grown into the deep link they had now. It seemed years, at times.

_Still seeing shadows, boy?_

_Fuck you, Gabriel._ The words lacked their usual fire, though. The boy's spirit was finally running low. It was rather sad.

_You keep saying that, boy, but you never deliver._ Gabriel opened his robe; the soft, mottled-brown linen whispered from his shoulders. Then came a second sound, like the rasp of heavy palm leaves in wind. The specialized muscles of his torso flexed; thirty feet of sinew, bone, and feather slid from deep within his back. As his wings emerged, they unfolded and extended, cutting off the feeble candlelight. The boy was cast in darkness, through which Gabriel could plainly see, but he could not.

Nonetheless, Alex lifted his chin bravely. _If you came here for a booty call, you are_ so _out of luck._

Gabriel's lips spread in a toothy grin. _There's my boy._

_I'm not your boy and never will be._

Gabriel pulled the deep red covers down, exposing him: the lean, muscular body sculpted by hardship and training. Strong thighs, well-proportioned hips, lean belly with a trail of golden curls. And speaking of well-proportioned. . . .

"Get away from me," Alex choked aloud. He shrank back from Gabriel, who was shifting onto the bed. Immediately the boy stiffened, though, face tightening as his gash asserted itself. He squeezed his eyes shut, regretting the recoil.

Gabriel felt the human's pain in his own gut, low in the abdomen. "Shh," he murmured. He reached out, but Alex swatted him away.

"Don't fucking _touch_ me!" The shouting caused more pain, though. Alex rolled on his side and curled in, gasping. _Jesus, Gabriel, give me some of those goddamn painkillers! Why are you such an asshole?_

_You can have the painkillers,_ Gabriel murmured. _But I thought you might like this more._ He eased down against the boy, lifted one wing, and eased it carefully across his shoulder and hip.

_Oh, god,_ whispered Alex, as the sooty feathers settled on skin. The words emerged as a needy groan. _You said you wouldn't do it._

_I said I_ couldn't _do it. Big difference._ Gabriel slid closer. He wrapped his arms around Alex's chest and hips for purchase. Carefully he levered, trying not to strain the wound, and pushed his other wing beneath the boy.

Alex went very, very still. He smelled of sweat, blood, and—more than a little—incipient death. Gabriel was quite familiar with that smell. There were also pheromones rising from his skin: pain, anger, fear, stress. But the wings radiated healing; they eased pain, gave calm and wellness. It was a precious sensation far beyond any painkiller on Earth.

With both wings in contact, Alex melted like wax before a fire. _You know I can't resist this._

Gabriel knew fully well. He was counting on it. He nestled the boy against him, wings curling, bodies sinking deep into the bed. His pelvis snugged against the boy's buttocks, his chest against the boy's neck. He tugged the covers over their hips.

Alex's words dissolved for a time. Verbally and mentally, he gave just little noises, while "peace" reclaimed the great portion of consciousness "pain" had heretofore occupied. Gabriel ushered in the change of regime with light fingers in those golden curls, sweeping down across the boy's crown and temple. He closed his eyes, letting calm sweep across them both.

Yes. Yes, _this_ was what he needed. Instead of painkillers and wine and cold showers, he had needed to settle down and heal something. So the energy flowed through him, too. And calmed him. And healed him.

Coincidentally if the healing-subject were Alex, well, all the better. That would make Brother happy. And perhaps . . . ? He rested his head on the pillow, eyes half-lidded. Perhaps . . . Noma as well.

He rested. For the first time in days, he truly rested. He slipped his arm about the boy's waist, wrapped his wings around them both, and let his body relax. There was not a force on Earth which could wrest this human from his grip, right now. And he _liked_ it that way.

He absorbed that for a few minutes. When was the last time he had been this content, simply curled with someone in a nest? Other than Michael? It was not in recent memory. 

Which begged the question . . . why?

Gabriel rubbed at his eyes. He had no particular idea why. And right now, he didn't much care. He desperately needed the rest and comfort, after days and days of suffering. That was all that mattered. Hell, that was probably the "why."

Eventually the boy resurfaced. He stirred, turning his head. His fingers curled along Gabriel's forearm, locked around his belly. Quietly he pleaded: _Why in fucksake did you wait?_

Damn. Now the questions. _I told you I could not heal you. Not when you got hit._

_I don't understand, "I could not." You're an Archangel. You're supposed to be super-powerful._ Alex's voice became frustrated. _Michael would never deny me healing, if I were in that much pain. Never. He'd never do that._

_I am not my Brother._ Gabriel reached up, clasping Alex's hand in his.

_Seriously, Gabriel, do you get off on pain? Is that why?_

_Sometimes,_ Gabriel admitted, _but that is not what is happening here._

_What the fuck is happening here?_ Alex now sounded bewildered. _A couple hours ago we agreed you'd never touch me again._

Gabriel paused. Aloud, he whispered, "Is that truly what you want, Alex?" He shifted his top wing, gliding dark feathers across the boy's inked skin.

Alex made a quiet, hurting sound. He reached up, gripping fingers around the edge of Gabriel's wing. He pulled it closer.

Gabriel had to smile. "I thought so." He would admit to no one the relief that breathed through him with the boy's simple move.

Alex added, "Still pissed at you—"

"Shh, now. Let's just heal, for the moment."

Alex nodded.

Gabriel closed his eyes again. "We can argue about the rest, later."  
  
---


	3. David

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated R for language, violence, blood, and excessive emotion.
> 
> Gabriel goes on another emotional roller-coaster ride, but this time Alex is along with him. Alex learns a few things he never expected about the "asshole angel" who's been keeping him prisoner, and shows a wide streak of humanity Gabriel never appreciated until now.
> 
> Random Quote:
>
>> They were quiet. Alex was completely motionless, as if he did not dare stir from the position in which Gabriel put him. But as Gabriel's body relaxed, so too did his. Eventually Gabriel leaned back against the wall, resting Alex's weight on his belly and chest. Alex made a small sound of relief.
>> 
>> _You will tell no one,_ Gabriel whispered.
>> 
>> _Gabriel, shut up,_ the boy repeated. _Who'm I gonna tell? Noma? "Hey, Noma, we had an awesome man-cuddle today. Aren't you jealous?"_  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I've been sitting on this chapter chewing on it. You caught me. I am still not happy with it but have to let it go. It's over the top emotionally, and the second section is 99% dialogue, dunno what to do to break it up... maybe nothing. Blah.
> 
> Had to rewrite the ending 3x. Yes, three. They did everything from talking about Garden of Eden to Noma wandering in wanting sex. Yes, I'm not kidding. I had to spank them and make Alex crawl in Gabe's lap for comfort. LOL. Still not sure what to do about the horny!Noma scene. Maybe next chapter... but I don't use M/F sex scenes much O_o'

**Chapter 19**

A thick quilt of sleep entangled him. Comfort, warmth. Depth. The tidal, swelling breath of a shape against him. Yes. Gabriel's palm pressed that shape close. It squirmed, slipping an arm around him, resolving into a boy. Gabriel lowered his face to the boy's temple, breathing across his hair. Gradually his eyes cracked open.

Under rough-woven blankets, he wore his brown-mottled robe. The wall at his back was mudbrick and plaster, the oil lamp on it just hollow, pinched clay with a wick. Now he remembered where he was. Gabriel settled deeper into the bed.

This was _his_ boy. This was his dear son, David. Sleepily he nuzzled, holding him protectively close. The boy's hair looked lighter than usual, but his energy was familiar. Yes, this was his boy.

Peace. There is no peace like an Archangel appeased. This was an all-encompassing calm, a serenity centered at the core of his being. It shimmered there so strong that it reached those around him. As if the seas themselves had ceased beating the stones, as if the very tides had gone quiescent. He floated still and mesmerised on the clear, mirror surface . . . with his boy.

_My boy._ Gabriel tugged the blanket closer. He kissed the top of that little head. Yes, the hair was lighter than usual, but long and soft like he remembered. A bit of curl to it as well.

The human stirred, one warm cheek rubbing against his heart and reaching his soul. Gabriel cradled him, letting that tenderness spread all through him, smiling.

_Sorry to wake you,_ he breathed through their link. _Just so glad to see you, Poppet._

The boy in his arms looked up. His expression was drowsy, light blue eyes half-lidded, long golden curls trailing down into his lashes. Gabriel smoothed them back.

_Where are we?_ the boy queried. __

_Home, Poppet. Go back to sleep._ Gabriel's heart felt full. Warm. Even whole. It was an exceptional sensation—one he had not enjoyed for an excruciatingly long time.

Part of that was his utter dedication. He would kill to protect this boy. He would die to protect this boy. If anyone ever gave him a chance.

His brow wrinkled, then, fingers tightening on the boy's back as that set in. Something had happened. Had it not? He had never been given a chance.

No, no. Gabriel, the boy was fine. Cuddled here, safe against his chest. He pushed away the thought, but it lingered. It was sudden and strong, like rapid shadow cutting the tide when storm obscures the sun.

The boy felt the shift. He had been riding the calm with him. Fingertips now brushed Gabriel's cheek; a furrowed brow greeted him, concerned eyes seeking his. _Gabriel?_

Gabriel turned his face away. _Shh,_ he murmured. _It's nothing, dear one, get some rest._

_It's not nothing,_ the boy insisted. _What happened?_

A sound made Gabriel lift his head. Immediately he was aware, listening, gazing through the darkness of their little home. Everything was in place: the rustic table, clay pots, simple hearth. But there, yes—in the corner, the flicker of movement, then gone.

Gabriel cautiously stretched his mind out, first. He sensed for his Brother, but picked up nothing. Again, he sensed for other angels, but found nothing. The energies around them were empty of his kind's emanations.

Carefully, like steel from a sheath, he slid from the rough blankets. He vaulted over the boy. Bare feet touched bare ground without a sound. His hand tugged a rough staff from beneath the bed.

_Seriously, a stick?_ the boy whispered.

_Sh!_ Gabriel hissed. He stepped out into the small room, tilting his head, searching for that flicker. What was it? Where was it? He crouched slightly, lifting the staff, ready for any attack.

The boy stirred in the covers behind him. _Extend your wings! Better than a stick._

Gabriel's eyes widened. _How do you know about—?_

Then a piercing cry—shrill, filling the room, ripping his awareness. Gabriel whirled, lifting the staff. The shadow had become gray spiralling mist, darkness within greater darkness, low and pulsing ugly over the bed. Gabriel swung his staffbut connected with nothing; the wood passed through. He raised it again, teeth bared.

Again the boy cried out: terrible pain, not fear. The shadow-mist entwined itself about the covers and boy, writhing, tangling, seizing them both. Again Gabriel swung, this time finding the wall. He smashed the staff spectacularly to jagged splinters.

Snarling, leaping upon the bed. He tore at the mist with little human fingernails. He growled, he ripped at absolutely nothing. There was nothing to grab. There was nothing to kill.

Fury. Fury and helplessness. Gabriel roared at his foe, wrenching the covers off and flinging them away. Beneath, the boy was struggling with it too, gasping and crying out as dark tendrils dug cruelly within his flesh.

Gabriel's hands ripped at them. Nothing. Nothing. He could not touch them. His hands passed through. Useless! He was useless.

In desperation, he flung himself down upon the boy. If he could not fight, perhaps he could shield with his own skin. Beneath him, the boy continued to struggle, biting back cries as the attack continued. Brave, the boy was so damned brave.

Gabriel raised his voice, the only thing he had left. _Be gone!_ he thundered. _Be gone from here! I, Gabriel, Commander of all Heaven's forces, command you! Leave this boy, and return from whence you came!_

His arms swept up the boy, close against his body, cradling him like a much smaller child. There was nothing else to do. Had his wings been present, he would have wrapped them like armor about them both.

Sudden stillness. Like pulling a plug, nothing. He could hear the boy's ragged breathing, nothing more.

Suspiciously Gabriel looked around. The mist was gone. There was only him, kneeling on their disheveled bed, with the golden-locked boy curled in his arms. He waited, eyes narrowed, expecting another attack. But there came nothing.

He looked down to assess the boy. There was pain in that youthful face, but he was bitig his lip, not making a sound. There was pain in himself, too—ripping all down his left side—but Gabriel cared nothing about that. No, the boy was more important. He felt warm dampness against his belly. That . . . was not a good feeling. What was that? He could smell—

Suddenly his heart squeezed tight, as if ropes had wrapped around it. Gabriel set the boy down and stared at an awful stain: deep crimson spreading, soaking the boy's gray robe.

The ropes tightened a thousandfold. He suddenly couldn't breathe. The rage he had expressed moments earlier turned in upon him, choking.

He tried to cry "no" but all that emerged was a low, throbbing keen. He jerked open the robe, pressing his hands to dark ruby fluid. Life-blood. Precious life-blood. It welled up between his fingers, overflowing, spilling across his hands.

He couldn't catch his breath. This was his fault. This was _his fault_!

Beneath him, the boy reached up to touch his cheek. He seemed far calmer than Gabriel. As soon as he moved, though, paradoxically Gabriel was trying to give reassurance: _Shh, David . . . shh, now. It's alright. It will be alright._

_Who's David?_ whispered the boy.

_It will be alright._ Gabriel pressed his hand harder against the wound. _Just hold on._ Inwardly, though, he was already grasping the truth: he couldn't fix this. He could not fix this. Too much blood. He was losing this battle. His son. His beautiful son.

He made a breathless, choked whimper. It was meant to be a laugh but did not quite escape that way. Bewilderment was setting in, beneath the shock. Hadn't this . . . hadn't this happened, before? __

_Gabriel, are you okay?_ The boy sounded truly concerned. His eyes were moving about the room, as if he'd never been here before.

Gabriel nodded. He tried again, and managed a sort of hysterical laugh _._ He began ripping at his own robe, knowing no amount of bandages would suffice, but there was no way he could _not try_.

The boy wasn't fooled. He slipped an arm around Gabriel's neck—not a frightened hug, Gabriel realized in amazement, but a supportive one. The boy was incredibly brave.

_Hey, it's okay,_ the boy whispered, looking worried. _It's okay, what's going on?_

_I have to—_ Gabriel pulled out of the hug. _Bandages._

_We both know that's not gonna do anything._ The words were gentle but firm. _Besides, the bleeding's stopping._

_Is it?_ Gabriel looked up skeptically.

The boy tugged at Gabriel's hands until he let go of the robe. _Seriously. What's going on? I've never seen you like this._

Gabriel gave in. He hugged the boy tightly, nuzzling into his hair. It was best to be honest at this point. _This is my fault,_ he admitted _. It is my fault you're hurt. I could not defend you._ The last words were a choked whisper: _David, I am so, so sorry._

The boy pulled back a bit, regarding him. For a long moment, those blue eyes gazed into his, tracking back and forth as if processing. Then they widened in sudden realization. His voice filled with wonder: _You think I'm somebody else._

_W-what?_ The bewilderment only deepened his crushing emotions. _You are my son. David, I cannot . . ._ His voice fell to a hush. _I cannot lose you again. Please._

The words hurt so much, Gabriel's body curled in on itself. He backed off, arms wrapping protectively around his torso. He wanted very badly to get away from here, somehow. Losing David was unbearable. Losing him again—was it again? Could he lose him _again_?

_Holy shit,_ whispered the boy. He sat there blinking, as if some mighty revelation had split the heavens and descended upon him. _Holy_ shit _, Gabriel! A_ son _?_

Gabriel knew something definitely wasn't right, but he couldn't make sense of it. He was ashamed, now, and hurting more than he could handle. This scene had turned from happiness and floating peace to drowning pain and shame. He'd had more than enough of that. He didn't want any more! Now he stared down at the bed rather than the boy. What had happened, here? And why did he have the nagging sensation he'd made an egregious mistake?

The boy shifted forward on the bed. Strangely, the bleeding had indeed stopped, although his wound remained. _You're not messing with me, are you?_ His voice was somber. _You're . . . really into this._

_Into what?_ Gabriel mumbled.

The boy drew a slow breath. _Okay. Gimme a sec._

Gabriel's gaze lifted uneasily. The boy's eyes were closed. There was silence for a minute or so, then they reopened, bright and blue. He realized David's eyes were not blue. They were brown.

The boy tilted forward and gave him a hesitant smile. _Hey. Okay, Gabe, listen to me. We're in a mind-world. Or maybe a dream, that turned into one. Okay? And you've got a_ raging _fucking fever._

He replied automatically, _Don't use language like that, David!_

The boy gave an apologetic smile. _Okay, yeah. I'm not. . . ._ He bit his lip, sensing that this was going to hurt. _I'm not David, Gabriel._

Gabriel curled tighter in on himself. He wrapped his arms around his folded legs and leaned against the wall. He stared off at the table.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


There came another pause, then quietly the boy asked: _Are you okay?_

Gabriel just rubbed his chest. Okay? Part of his soul was missing. But he realized, now, that it had been missing all along. For a few minutes, he had mistakenly thought it was back, that was all. He rested his chin on his arms, fighting despair.

No more pain. He could not do this. No more pain, Father, please. Make it stop.

_Gabriel?_ The boy's voice was quiet. __

Gabriel closed his eyes. __

The boy paused, then pressed harder: _Please talk to me._

Gabriel shook his head. He closed his eyes. A mind-world. This was a mind-world. Clarity was trickling to him, now. He had just made awful miscalculations and errors, exposing himself horrendously.

There came the rustle of fabric. The boy shifted closer. Gabriel felt a touch at his arm.

_Hey,_ came the boy's insistence. _Why does this hurt so much? Tell me about David. You gotta tell me something, if I have to feel it, too._

_I need to tell you nothing,_ Gabriel whispered. _You're Alex. Not David. Or. . . ._ He swept his eye across the child before him. _Actually a conglomeration of the two._

Alex reached up, tugging at the long, golden spirals hanging from his scalp. _Yeah? Long hair, huh._

_You're adorable._ Gabriel dropped his eyes again. He whispered: _Please go away, Alex. I do not want you to see me this way. You've seen too much, as it is._

_Yeah, little late for that._ Alex grew serious. _Sorry, Gabriel, but . . . I'm not gonna leave. I don't think it's a good idea._

_Even now you torment me._ Gabriel rubbed at his face.

Alex patted his shoulder—a strangely adult gesture for the child. _That's right, now it's me being an asshole._ He sank down against the wall, so close to Gabriel that their shoulders touched. _But I'm not leaving you alone, right now._

Gabriel regarded him sadly. _Why?_

_Because if I had that much grief and anguish pumping through me, I damnsure wouldn't want to be alone._ Alex toyed with one of the splinters from the broken staff. _You forget I can feel through our link._

_I thought I shut that down._

_Yeah. You didn't._ Alex hesitated, then put an arm around his shoulders. Gabriel allowed this, finding odd comfort in the contact. Strange that a human should bring anything but annoyance. It had been so long, historically speaking, since anything of the sort had happened. __

A few minutes went by. Alex gazed up with those light blue eyes, as if considering his next move. Finally, in a low, almost shy voice, he proposed: _Listen, if I crawl in your lap again, do you think you'll stop hurting?_

Gabriel stiffened. For a moment he hugged himself tighter. _That is only for—_

_I know. I . . . felt that. It's David's place._ Alex looked down at the splinter in his hand. _But for godsake, lemme try. Anything to make this stop, Gabriel. It's like . . . the whole universe is crushing my soul right now. Is this seriously how you feel? How can you stand it?_

Gabriel hesitated. He shifted uncomfortably, unwilling to expose yet more emotional weakness to Alex. He had already been stripped bare and flogged before the boy's eyes. Any further exposure was . . . it was ridiculous, really. And pointless. The boy had seen all. He turned away in shame.

_Yeah, I know,_ acknowledged Alex. _It's a macho thing. It's kinda fucking with me, too. But I'll try anything to make this stop. This is awful._ He rubbed his chest.

Gabriel nodded. It was in agreement with the statement, but Alex took it as permission. He shifted forward, lifting Gabriel's arm.

Gabriel gave him a single, exhausted and hurting look. Alex gazed back, surprised.

_You don't trust me?_ the boy asked.

_I cannot handle any more misery,_ Gabriel responded.

Alex paused, the angel's arm half-lifted, his own form half-maneuvered onto Gabriel's lap. The gray robe was soaked black and hanging limply from him. _I wasn't planning on teasing you later with it. If that's what you're worried about._

Gabriel grimaced. _There's that, too._

_And?_

The words slipped from him unexpectedly: _Humans die, Alex. That's what they do. Chosen Ones, particularly. Sit in my lap today, disappear tomorrow._

Alex's mouth tightened. _Shut up, Gabriel._

The Archangel grew quiet. The human eased himself onto his lap and leaned against his chest. When the boy's weight settled on him, Gabriel leaned forward, arms curving around to guide the boy into place. It was automatic, instinctive: one arm at the boy's knee, hand resting on his hip; one wrapped around the boy's torso, holding him close. His face found the back of Alex's neck, breathing across it, stirring the curls.

They were quiet. Alex was completely motionless, as if he did not dare stir from the position in which Gabriel put him. But as Gabriel's body relaxed, so too did his. Eventually Gabriel leaned back against the wall, resting Alex's weight on his belly and chest. Alex made a small sound of relief.

_You will tell no one,_ Gabriel whispered.

_Gabriel, shut up,_ the boy repeated. _Who'm I gonna tell? Noma? "Hey, Noma, we had an awesome man-cuddle today. Aren't you jealous?"_

Gabriel frowned. _This is more than a "man-cuddle." This is how I held my son._

Alex reached up, touching Gabriel's jaw. _Okay. And it's awesome that you showed me. Shared this._

The boy was trying to placate him. Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut. _It was not exactly by choice._

_This part is,_ Alex pointed out.

Gabriel nodded. He made a low sound, gliding fingers across the boy's smooth hip. He was the same weight as David. The same shape. At this point, he couldn't tell if it hurt or comforted him. This was all a terrible, cruel trick.

_It's sweet that you call him your "son,"_ Alex murmured. _Michael sometimes says he thinks of me like a son. But he's never actually called me "son."_

Gabriel swallowed hard. Then nodded.

_Hell, you know, I don't even know whose son I really am._ Alex smiled for a second. _Jeep raised me, then Vega and Michael, but . . . nobody knows who my dad is. I mean, my mom knew, but . . . well, you know what happened to her._

Gabriel avoided looking at him.

_I kinda like being a kid,_ Alex changed the subject. _We can do this mind-world some more, if you want._

Gabriel shuddered. _No! I will simply lose him again, every time I come._ His arms tightened subconsciously on Alex; he didn't realize it until Alex's fingers tapped his arm. __

Carefully Alex licked his lips. _So, um, what happened?_

Sharply Gabriel shook his head, pulling back from the surge of pain. _Ask Michael. He will tell you._

_Okay, okay._ Alex nodded. _Sorry. It's gotta be bad, if it still hurts this much._

_You've no idea._

Alex nodded thoughtfully. _'Kay. So . . . this is good, actually. I mean, not the hurting part. But me realizing you actually have a soul. That's a plus._

Gabriel's brow wrinkled. _Of course I do,_ he whispered. __

_I mean, it never occurred to me, there might actually be a reason why you act so f'ing bizarre._

_Don't push it, boy._

Alex grinned, showing he was kidding. He cuddled against Gabriel's chest. Again, there came an instinctive wave of protectiveness. It pushed back the hurt and let him relax. Gabriel sighed softly in relief and stroked his thumb along Alex's breastbone. _What are you doing to me?_ he breathed.

_Dunno,_ answered Alex, _but it feels pretty good, huh?_ His voice sounded tranquil.

_It's just relief from pain. That always feels good._

_Dunno._ Alex shifted a little. _So . . . where's your wings?_

Gabriel extended his fingers, showing his round, human nails. He gave a bitter, sad smile. _The same place my extraordinary strength is._

_And that is?_ Alex touched Gabriel's nails curiously. __

_Gone. Useless—I couldn't even save my son, as you saw._

Alex nodded. _Packed in Uselessville, huh. Any particular reason?_

_Yes. But not one I can share._

_Tease._

Gabriel curled his fingers in again. _If I told you, Alex, you'd wonder what on Earth we angels are up to._

_Yeah because I don't already wonder that, with all the kinky shit I witness day-to-day._

_This wasn't kinky,_ Gabriel lamented. _This was very special, and it was mine. And it was taken away._

There came a pause. _And you never really got over it. Did you?_

_No._ The word was like a tug of wind in the crook of a broken wall.

Alex, child-Alex, gazed up at him and toyed with his hair. _See,_ he concluded, _that's the problem with living forever. When you die, shit stops hurting._

Gabriel lowered his lips to the boy's brow. Lightly he pressed a chaste kiss there. _Out of the mouth of babes._

Alex gave him a serious look. _I'm sorry about your son._

Gabriel gave a shrug.

_No._ Alex frowned. _Don't be an asshole. Don't shrug. I know it means a fuckload to you. I just saw you melt down._

Gabriel looked away, grimacing. _What do you want me to say, Alex?_

_Say, "thank you" like a decent person. Or, "me too." Or, "shit yeah, that really hurts."_

_And the point of that would be?_

_It's what humans do, to grieve._

_Ah._ Gabriel shifted his weight and sighed. _You're not an Archangel, Alex. You don't have thousands of angels watching your every step. Waiting for weakness, to strike._

_No, I'm the fucking Chosen One. I've got every human being on_ Earth _watching my ass in skepticism. You wanna play comparison?_

Gabriel shook his head.

_Fine. So say it._

Gabriel told him dryly: _I very much like you more, broken and submissive._

_Tough shit. I'm dying, Gabriel. I got nothing to lose._

Gabriel's arms tightened again. His mouth hardened. _We shall see about that,_ he growled. _I am doing what I can to resolve my issue, so that I can heal, and thus heal you._

_Oh, yeah, because you've done just a_ fuckload _of healing, here,_ came the sarcastic reply.

_You might be surprised._ Gabriel lowered his face to Alex's hair again. Finally he murmured, _Thank you._

_You're welcome. . . . Now let me breathe._

_We're in a mind-world. Technically you don't have to breathe._ Nonetheless, Gabriel loosened his grip.

Alex craned his neck and gave Gabriel's chin a peck of a kiss. _Asshole._ The word was fond.

Gabriel peered at him in surprise, then replied: _Stubborn little shit._

Alex grinned. _Let's get out of here and see if we can treat that fever. It's like sleeping with a fucking campfire._

_Agreed._  
  
---


	4. What Happens in Mind-Vega...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated **Hard R** for mention of M/M sex, erections, blow-jobs, rim-jobs... but no actual action
> 
> First section: Gabriel and Alex calm down after the "David" scene; Gabriel wants a secrecy deal. Second section: Alex gets petted and likes it, for once. But Gabriel lays down the law.
>
>> Alex squeezed his eyes shut. _Look, Gabe, you've seen some of_ my _darkest, most awfullest weakness. Consider us even._
>> 
>> Gabriel paused. He had not considered that. Delving deep into the boy's mind had been natural; it was what he simply did. But yes, he'd uncovered much of Alex's inner workings, and would see more as he continued to dig. Terrors about being abandoned, being left to die. Panic at being powerless, being trapped.
>> 
>> Gabriel rested his cheek on Alex's neck for a moment—a sort of conciliation. _Very well. I will not tell yours, if you do not tell mine. Is that the deal?_
>> 
>> _Yeah. What happens in Mind-Vega, stays in Mind-Vega_ , Alex told him bitterly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Bangs head on keyboard* Okay so there's a Noma almost-sex scene, right? And until an hour ago, it came right after section one of this chapter. And I said, No way! We can't follow this serious section talking about emotions and life-force and secrets with something as tawdry as horniness! So I said, "Muses, dear Muses, write me another section to follow that, so I can post it this morning."
> 
> What did they write? What did they write, O Readers? HORNY ALEX. It was ALEX this time! It's never Alex! It's Always Gabriel - I can always blame him! First Noma, now Alex. I've got a whole revolution on my hands! :O
> 
> Gabriel Muse: *is snickering in the background while Coy types this--well, sort of chortling*  
> Alex Muse: *sitting red-faced and embarrassed on the edge of the tub* Sorry. Can I be healed yet?  
> Coy: NEXT CHAPTER!! I SWEAR! OMG!! *fur flies off*  
> Gabriel: *murmurs to Alex* Best not to stir things up.  
> Alex: *nods, wide-eyed*

**Chapter 20**

Exhaustion pressed him like leaden covers, catching every curve and nook. The mind-world encounter had drained every part, flesh and spirit both. Now he lay close against Alex, eyes closed, wings curled loosely in warmth. He was trembling—just a bit—perhaps in strain, perhaps from illness, fever, or shock. He was praying the boy didn't notice.

To his relief, Alex said nothing. Gabriel listened to him breathe and took strange comfort in it. Around them, the room closed silent and heavy: flickering candles, dark corners, solid stone. He took comfort in that, too. He needed the solidness, the certainty.

In an instant of stumbling and clumsy inattention, he had revealed his most intimate wound. Wide open and exposed for the boy's examination. His David. The loss of his son. The hurt surrounding that, his failure, his suffering. He'd rather anything— _anything_ —than have that shown!

Even worse, all this given to a creature he considered at best a pet—at worst, a fucking nuisance. Such unspeakable shame. Even Brother would be shocked at how badly he had staggered. Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut.

Alex's steady breath continued. Gabriel listened to it, letting it soothe him.

And yet, the boy had taken it all so calmly. Even . . . kindly. Gentle words, light touches. As if he had no notion that he held Gabriel's soul in his palms. But it was worse than that; Gabriel knew Alex _was_ aware, and had consciously chosen mercy.

How did that speak to the boy's character? Gabriel himself would not have gone to such lengths.

He shifted his wing uncomfortably on top of Alex.

Alex stirred drowsily at the movement. He rasped, "Go get your damn fever taken care of."

Instead, Gabriel slid his palm across the boy's bandaged abdomen. "Are you any better?"

"Lot better, when you give me proper healing."

"Mm." Gabriel switched to their private talk: _Listen, Alex. I was dead serious when I said you must tell no one. What happened tonight is absolutely between us._

Alex's voice became irritated: _You think I don't know that?_

_The others would stage a coup if they knew I had such vulnerabilities._

Alex turned his head to eye him sideways. _Seriously, you think I'm gonna blab to Briathos? Because he's been so awesome to me._ The sarcasm was thick.

_Alex._ Gabriel's voice was urgent. _Your own people, too._

Alex squeezed his eyes shut. _Look, Gabe, you've seen some of_ my _darkest, most awfullest weakness. Consider us even._

Gabriel paused. He had not considered that. Delving deep into the boy's mind had been natural; it was what he simply did. But yes, he'd uncovered much of Alex's inner workings, and would see more as he continued to dig. Terrors about being abandoned, being left to die. Panic at being powerless, being trapped.

Gabriel rested his cheek on Alex's neck for a moment—a sort of conciliation. _Very well. I will not tell yours, if you do not tell mine. Is that the deal?_

_Yeah. What happens in Mind-Vega, stays in Mind-Vega_ , Alex told him bitterly. _Now, go do your damn healing salts._

Gabriel felt relief. The agreement was far kinder than the alternative he had planned: withholding healing until the boy agreed. _Noma is not back yet. I shall summon her._

Gabriel's fingers slid lightly across Alex's ribs, beneath the warmth of his own wing. These were ribs he once had shattered, in Alex's mind-world, the so-called "Mind-Vega." These were ribs he had subsequently healed, just as he was about to heal that awful gash in his belly.

Yes, like it or not, he did owe the boy a debt. It would have been easy for Alex to abandon or mock him, tonight. Instead, the boy had stayed and shown kindness. That was more than most of his own kind would have done. Did that make humans better than angels? Of course not. But it made Alex an extraordinary member of his species.

"I will fix you," Gabriel whispered. "I will make you whole again."

"Yeah, you better worry about yourself, first."

"Working on that." He smoothed back a handful of golden curls. He was indeed growing stronger; the energy flowing through his wings was steadier than before. It felt warmer, too. He could tell there was true healing mixed in, not just a sense of wellbeing. Soon he would be strong enough to add his own healing skill. And then, at last, his own life-force.

The boy would never know the ends to which Gabriel went to keep him healthy. And that was perfectly fine by Gabriel. His donations of life-force were a private issue nearly as deep as David. And he had already revealed too much, as it was. His gift would remain secret for a very long time.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Several minutes later, Alex stirred against Gabriel, skin warm and deceptively soft. He yawned and looked over his shoulder. "You didn't summon Noma, did you?"

"Not yet, no."

"How come?"

Gabriel paused, unwilling to admit he had needed a few minutes of quiet to absorb tonight's events. He lifted his wing away to check the boy's condition. His color was a healthier pink, and he appeared to have some energy. Gabriel exhaled across the boy's skin, making the hairs prickle, and dragged his scruffy cheek over one tattooed shoulder.

Alex wriggled away. "You need to shave."

"Do I? Yet you bear the shrubbery."

Alex scratched the bush on his own face. He stretched—just a little, careful not to pull the muscles of his abdomen. "How're you healing?"

The question sounded so innocent, but Gabriel heard the need beneath. He glided a light palm down the boy's ribs. "I promise I will heal you when I can."

Then Alex looked into his eyes, blue on blue, and Gabriel saw the shimmering pain within. The boy normally hid it—at least reasonably well—but now it had overtaken him. Even given the wing-love, Alex was at the end of his strength.

Gabriel licked his lips uneasily. "Alright, boy, let me see what I can do."

He knew he was nowhere near ready. But no one could deny a look like that. Gabriel curled around the boy again, thighs pressing tight to his backside and legs, arms wrapping around his belly and chest. "Shh," he whispered. "There's a good boy, relax and let it flow."

There was very little "flow" to be had. Gabriel ended up stroking his palm along the boy's flesh in slow, easy glides, giving just a trickle—the best he could do. If nothing else, his touch did soothe. Alex nestled against him, relaxing into his arms in a spooning position.

"There's a good boy," he whispered again. Gabriel, too, relaxed.

It had been a very long time since he had allowed himself to pet a human this way. To glide his palm along skin, follow the curves, nestle his fingers into the nooks and trail them back up to the surface. He liked the way flesh pulsed beneath his fingertips. He enjoyed the coarse texture of the hairs on Alex's bicep, contrasted against the smoothness of his inner wrist. The top of the thigh versus the inner. The back of the neck versus the throat.

He wondered if Alex ever touched his own skin and noticed all the subtle things: ridged veins, prickled hairs, low wrinkles, concave pores. The flutter of pulse, as it reached one point faster than another. The twitch of muscles and nerve-fibers so tiny they were autonomic. No, probably not; humans could not sense what his kind could. That was why they were such easy prey.

Gabriel lowered his face to the back of Alex's neck. Automatically Alex lowered his head, as if it were natural. A submissive gesture, an acceptance, Gabriel felt. That set excitement fluttering all through him; he followed the motion, mouth seeking flesh. It was his instinct to nibble, to kiss. He did it gently, but wanted more.

Against him, Alex gave a breathy gasp. The boy shifted, hips pushing back subtly against Gabriel's pelvis.

That sent a roll of thick, wondrous heat all through him. Gabriel growled happily, sliding an arm around Alex's stomach. He pulled the boy possessively closer, but Alex gave a sharp hiss.

Immediately Gabriel let go. He kissed that neck in soft apology, knowing he'd done harm. Alex gripped the sheets, pressed his face to the pillow, and made a frustrated howl.

Gabriel murmured: "That was almost—"

"I know," Alex choked.

"Are you—?"

"Yeah." Alex reached down, tucking his growing arousal between his own thighs.

"We can't."

Alex shook his head. "N-no."

Gabriel sighed.

Alex's cheeks were deepening red as he watched. Gabriel touched one in passing. "You act as if we've never touched," he teased.

Alex covered his face. "I've never responded like that before. Not to you."

"Of course you have, boy." Gabriel breathed the words sensually across his ear. "In the shower, you responded to me beautifully. You wanted it, then."

"That was mostly your mind-bending."

"Noo, no, no." Gabriel chuckled. "That was delicious soap and hot water, and Gabriel's magic fingers. But not mind-bending."

Alex's blush deepened even more. "If I tell you I'm feeling better, would you—"

"Endanger your life by fondling you?"

"Um."

Gabriel settled back on the bed. "You're not as well as you think you are. The wing-love has given you a sense of wellbeing, but your body still requires healing."

Alex made a frustrated sound. He parted his handsome thighs and slid a hand down his belly. But before he could do anything, Gabriel captured both wrists. He pulled them up over Alex's head, clucking his tongue.

"H-hey!" Alex yelped.

"Naughty." Gabriel held him immobile, trying not to stretch that ripped abdomenal wall. "Be still."

"Let me go!" Alex wriggled, kicking one leg although not hard.

"Shh. Be still. Submit." Gabriel kept his voice very calm, and his hand very still. His fists were firm, not crushing but gripping securely enough Alex would know he was serious.

"C'mon, Gabe!"

"Relax, boy, or this will hurt."

Alex, for once, took his advice. His body stopped straining against the hold, and Gabriel immediately gave some slack.

"Good boy," he purred in the boy's ear. "Lie still, like a good boy. Don't touch yourself; you will make your wound worse. I shall give you more healing, and we'll all be fine."

"You're no fun, Gabe."

"It's Gabriel. And I am _plenty_ fun. But not while you're mortally wounded. You fool."

Alex sighed.

"Shh, be still now." Gabriel murmured in his ear. "I _promise_ you I will fulfill your every wish, the moment that monkey body of yours fuses back together."

Alex brightened. "Every wish?"

"Within reason." Gabriel narrowly avoided nibbling his ear; it was still very arousing, having him contained under control like this. He took a deep breath to calm himself, but it didn't help much. Something about the helpless creature pinned just drove him wild.

Alex gazed up at him with pleading eyes. "I can feel you're hard, Gabriel. Why not?"

"Because I said not."

"How can you possibly have that much self-control?"

"Practice." Gabriel gave him a tight smile.

"You don't want to?"

"I never said that."

"But you don't."

"Would I be hard in the first place, boy, if not?" Gabriel quirked an eyebrow. "Come now, let's not play the Awkward Date Game. Take my words at face value: you are injured, so we mustn't strain anything."

"Then let me," whispered Alex.

Gabriel hesitated. "Let you . . . what?"

Alex's eyes moved toward Gabriel's groin.

Gabriel looked up at the ceiling. "Is it something I failed to convey?" he pleaded of no one in particular.

Alex frowned.

"No, boy. You cannot sit up to manhandle me. You also cannot lick me, suck me, deep-throat me, or rim me."

"What's 'rim'?"

"—I cannot even let you move enough," Gabriel continued, "to roll on your belly, so I can fuck you in a relatively motionless manner. Believe me—in the last ten minutes I have thought of every scenario, and handily rejected each!"

Alex looked disappointed.

"Now, be a good boy, be quiet, and let me call Noma, so I can heal myself, and therefore heal you. After that, we can fuck like wild animals! Deal?"

Alex nodded wordlessly.

"Fair."  
  
---


	5. The Noma Scene - Yes, THAT Noma Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated NC-17 for M/M/F nudity, kissing, and object penetration.
> 
> Noma wanders in and ... um. Well, just... read the chapter. It involves nudity, Noma, Alex, Gabriel, and a well-trimmed candle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't write heterosexual scenes. But apparently Gabriel Muse does.
> 
> Great.

**Chapter 21**

A few minutes after he called her, Noma sashayed into the room. Gabriel heard the door open and her footsteps approach, like miniature knells of doom. There came a pause, then the inevitable, stifled gasp when she found them entwined in the act of full-body, naked, interspecies and homosexual wing-love. He did not bother to look up; he just steeled himself for her response.

Slowly she circled the bed. He heard and felt her smirk: _God I wish I had a camera._

Gabriel gritted his teeth. _If I do not do this, the boy will die._

_Oh, I know. I do know. But still. All the times you teased me—_

_Yes, I am aware._ Gabriel stared stonily at the wall.

_Wow. Just . . . wow._ She set down a basket filled with goodies. Her voice became innocent: _Do you guys want privacy, or . . . ? I mean, I don't actually have anywhere to go, but. . . ._

_I'm aware of that, too,_ gritted Gabriel _. I cannot move him in his current state, otherwise, I would have. Just have a seat somewhere._

She thought about it. His eyes slid to find her expression mischievous. He closed them, wishing he were anywhere but here, at the moment.

Finally, the covers rustled. Satin-soft skin brushed his hand; gentle pressure lifted his top wing, and a warm body slid beneath. His eyes reopened to find her nestling, naked, against Alex.

His eyebrows went up.

At least, he was rather sure she was naked; most of her was hidden beneath his wing, and he dared not lift it, lest he interrupt the healing. But the way she was shimmying up against the boy left little doubt.

She extended her own wings, giving Gabriel a teasing look with pursed lips. "It's all for Alex, right?"

Gabriel snorted. "I doubt he has enough blood for an erection."

Alex stirred from his nap, opening his eyes at that. They went wide. "Ohh, hey."

"Wing-love threesome," muttered Gabriel. "Perfect."

"Yeah, wow." Alex's hands slid across her curves, beneath the cover of Gabriel's wing. As a result, her arms encircled his neck. She smiled, nuzzling his cheek. Then her full lips enfolded his, wet and eager. They pulled as if seeking the last of his life-force.

Gabriel's expression darkened.

Alex moaned, hands moving higher. He cupped her breasts from the look of it, tilting his face into the kiss.

_Give me your wrists,_ Gabriel sighed.

_Nooo,_ came the answer, just like a child whose toy was being taken. _I feel so much better._

_I swear it's something in the water._ Gabriel rubbed at his forehead. The shift of her hips beneath his wing was enough to entice a half-dead eunuch to arousal. He took a deep breath, but it failed to calm him. The boy's pheromones were whispering of hunger and need. Noma's were—forget it. He was basically breathing in a faceful of "fuck me" the longer he stayed in the bed.

She broke off the kiss, smiling wickedly. "Careful, Alex," she whispered, knowing Gabriel could hear. "Archangels don't share well."

"Archangels do share," Gabriel pointed out, "so long as we get our _fair_ share." He gazed at her, licking his lips. For a moment he pictured her beneath him: legs wide-parted, mouth open, shuddering with his thrusts. For a moment he was inside her, sheathed in her, fulfilling himself in her unrelenting, interloping heat. He took another long, deep breath, eyes growing dusky as his desire grew. He caressed her skin with the tips of his pinions. "What say you, Noma?"

Noma bit her lip uncertainly. Her gaze slid to Alex.

"Mm. Now you think of him." Gabriel flicked his fingers dismissively. "The boy can't mate in his condition. You know that."

"I was just messing around." She frowned—almost, but not quite, a pout.

Alex groaned, squirming between them. "Doesn't Alex get a vote on this?"

"No, Alex does not." Gabriel shifted so that his own, burgeoning hardness was not jabbing so prominently against the boy's backside.

Alex made an attempt. He reached backward across his own hip, going for Gabriel, but Archangel captured his wrist before it ever reached him. "Don't," he breathed, and kissed Alex's shoulder. "For Father's sake, boy, there's nothing I'd like more. But your poor body can't take it."

"Please let me try."

Gabriel exhaled across his neck. "I cannot." _Damn you, Noma, what are you thinking?_

_I was just playing,_ she responded. _The two of you together are so hot!_

_Neither of us has mated for days._

_None of us has,_ she growled _. And that's not my fault._

_Damn you, damn you, damn you!_ Gabriel's erection was only swelling more. He lifted his wing, exposing both of them—Alex half-hard, poor thing, and she with her hand around his golden-rooted shaft.

Gabriel shook his head. "Bad girl. Let him go."

Noma did, with an apologetic look to Alex. Gabriel carefully withdrew his wing from beneath the boy and pulled both into the air. He reared up on the bed, gazing with hard scorn down at Noma.

"You've displeased," he informed her coldly.

She shrank back somewhat, lowering her eyes. Her breasts were pressed between her arms like offerings to him, propped up making them fuller and more alluring. But he was not to be waylaid.

"You knew better, Noma, and you handled him regardless." Gabriel shifted over the boy, who stared at him in shock. For a moment he pictured himself through Alex's eyes: a tall figure, nude, cast in flickering shadow from the candles. Wings half-stretched, chin lifted, stern eyes focused on the angel before him. He allowed his Presence to flow—what little he could channel—so that Alex could feel it, could understand _why_ the other angels obeyed. Its weight filled the room like pressurized air, bearing down on all present.

Noma swallowed hard. When Gabriel lifted her braid, she lowered her head. He clasped her by the back of the neck and she slipped down, flat on her belly.

He inhaled her scent. "You've been drinking," he accused.

"I might have had a few glasses of wine with the boys."

"Bad girl." He slid an arm around her waist from behind. "You need to be reminded."

She gasped as he laid down across her. Her wings lifted slightly, pushing up against his, but he firmly pushed them down.

"Oh, don't," he snorted. "As if you're going to wrestle me?"

She shuddered as he lined up their bodies, letting his weight settle slowly so that she was borne down into the mattress.

"Shh. Don't fight," he coaxed her.

She stiffened, but not much to his surprise, after a moment she slowly parted her thighs.

"Good girl," he breathed in her ear.

She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing raggedly. She was not afraid, though. Far from it. "Punish me?" she panted.

"Don't," whispered Alex.

Gabriel was fully hard. He shifted his pelvis, allowing his erection to lie cradled in the soft, smooth crevice of her buttocks. He rested his face on the back of Noma's neck and looked at the boy.

Alex's face was anxious, eyes flitting between the two of them. "Don't," he repeated.

Gabriel licked his lips. He dragged his claws very slowly across Noma's smooth, rounded backside. She arched beneath him, making a low moan.

"I wasn't going to _harm_ her, boy."

Gabriel knew from experience what Noma wanted. He didn't have the heart to tell the boy that, though. He dug his nails in.

As he added pressure, her moan gained volume. She arched harder beneath him, too, until she was pushing back against him like a cat, rigid and willing.

"Shh, sh sh." Gabriel withdrew his claws. She sank back to the mattress beneath him, going quiet.

Alex patted his own chest, giving Gabriel a strangely woeful look. Gabriel tilted his head, eyeing the boy. How curious. He reached out to Alex: _You want her, boy? Is that it?_

Alex's jaw tightened. _Don't force her._

_This is very far from forcing her, boy. You've a lot to learn about our culture._

_She's not yours._

_Technically, they are all mine, yes. But I can share._

Beneath him, Noma's wings slid slowly against the bed. She pushed them flat against the mattress, signalling surrender. Submission. Gabriel growled happily and scraped his teeth against the back of her neck. Instinct urged him very strongly to claim her. She wiggled, rubbing her moistness against him.

She was doing everything in her power to make him mount her. What she didn't realize was, that turned him off. He was disinclined to answer her demands—only his own.

Beside them, Alex made a quiet, urgent sound.

Gabriel glanced again at the boy. Yes, he was possessive. Wanting of this angel beneath him. How strange. Gabriel lingered on the choice, puzzled.

Alex told him, _To you, she's one of thousands. To me, she's—_

_One of two. Maybe three. Or four, counting me._

Alex flinched.

_Nothing wrong with a proper harem, boy. But if I were doling out advice, I'd tell you to find a reliable playmate, not this one._ Gabriel pulled back from Noma, who shivered from his sudden absence. __

"I wish to god I could let you have her, Alex." Gabriel pushed himself up. "You'd kill yourself in the mating."

Alex tried to sit up, but Gabriel chuckled and pushed him back down. "No, no. Noma, stay. You have yet to be punished."

Alex looked anxious again. "Do they all just do what you say?"

"Mm. It's good to be Archangel." Gabriel rose. He pulled out a knife and made quick work of a thick, unlit candle nearby. It was a couple inches in width and eight inches or so in length. He shortened it, rounded the top, and cut a deep notch near the base. A quick wave through the flames softened the edges, and he was done. "Here, Alex, a gift for you."

Alex eyed the instrument uncertainly. "What do I . . . ?"

Gabriel sighed. "I should not have to tell you how to use that, boy."

"Put it in me," purred Noma, still on her belly.

Gabriel gestured. "You see? She even comes with her own instructions." He gripped the back of Noma's neck, pinning her to the bed again. She groaned and arched up, offering herself, thighs wide-spread. " _You_ be silent, now. Alex and I are in charge."

Alex lay on his side. His eyes flitted uneasily to Gabriel at the last sentence.

Gabriel gave him a wink. ". . . Not that end, boy. Turn it around."

Gabriel watched him play with her and stroke her with it. Noma kept herself trimmed, so he had a good view. She rubbed herself against it, groaning softly.

"Be still!" he ordered her.

"Does this count as punishment?" Alex's voice was hoarse, his eyes fixed on Noma.

"It does, when all she wants is Archangel cock." Gabriel smirked.

Alex's brow wrinkled. Gradually he began to work it inside her. It stretched her, pale wax parting brown and pink flesh.

"And if she's a bad girl," Gabriel added, "we'll light the wick."

Alex nearly dropped it.

He bit his lip not to laugh.

Alex began breathing hard. He slid the candle-dildo in and out of her, taking his time. He was teasing her with it at first, then gliding deeper and deeper. Gabriel approved. With every stroke, Noma gave a glorious moan. Occasionally Gabriel swatted her ass, but he allowed Alex control over most of the action. The boy wanted Noma? Very well. He couldn't allow them to mate, but this was nearly as good. Plus it enabled him to punish Noma, to some extent. And also enabled him to see how the boy did, in a position of semi-control. One could tell a great deal about someone's inner workings, from that.

"Let me touch myself," Noma begged.

"What do you think, Alex? Should we let her?" Gabriel grinned.

"Nah."

"Oh! He's a harsh Top, this one." Gabriel chuckled.

"I'd normally. . . ." Alex paused, embarrassed. "I'd normally let her, but, this thing won't go soft. So there's no rush."

"No, indeed. That's the good part. Now, push it in; it should stay."

Alex did, pleased to find that the notch held it in place within her.

Noma moaned, bucking her pelvis against it.

"I said be _still_!" Gabriel smacked her rear, harder.

She moaned, flexing her buttocks beneath the strike.

"Now we can make her give me a bath." Gabriel smiled.

"With that inside?" demanded Alex.

"Oh, very much so. To punish her for fondling you. And to remind her that a sub does not demand attention; she waits until the Dom wants her."

"I'm not your sub," growled Noma.

"No? You forget I am an Archangel." He smacked her bottom again, leaving a pink hand print. "Bring the holy salts. And maybe once I'm well, I will give you an orgasm."

Another flash came of those blue, anxious eyes, but Gabriel winked again. _Relax, Alex. I've decided to share. That means you'll get one, too._  
  
---


	6. Of Salt Baths, Breeding, and Nefilim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated soft NC-17 for M/M/F (Gabe/Alex/Noma) nudity, grinding, biting, erections, breasts, D/s, pain, and flagrant misuse of candles.
> 
> Gabriel soaks in holy salts to heal his injuries. He, Noma, and Alex discuss angel breeding rules and nefilim. Gabriel gets excited; Noma gets wet; Alex gets wetter.
> 
> Random happy quote:
>
>> Gabriel remarked, "Daddy has all sorts of nice things in his Aerie."
>> 
>> Alex swatted his hand. "You really do call yourself 'Daddy'?" His nose wrinkled. "I thought that was a joke, when you said it before. Like, 'Daddy's home.'"
>> 
>> "No, not a joke." Gabriel folded his arms. "Well, perhaps a tad tongue-in-cheek."
>> 
>> "So, it's like . . . a 'leather-daddy' thing. With the leather clothes, and you being a Dom, and all."
>> 
>> Gabriel clucked his tongue and tilted his head briefly sideways. "No, that's . . . not it, either."
>> 
>> Very slowly, Alex's attention dragged from Noma to Gabriel. ". . . So what is it?"
>> 
>> Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Where, exactly, do you think baby angels come from, Alex?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear god I thought I never would escape this bath scene! I rewrote it 3x and added and removed chunks just to break up the dialogue. Sorry about all the talking. Gabriel wouldn't shut up. Hopefully there's enough "stuff happening" now so it's not just all talking.

**Chapter 22**

Gabriel watched, half-lidded and lazy. Water swirled in swollen whirlpools: thick, churning current choking in upon itself; a billion bubbles rising into white, tenuous froth. He sat at the edge, trailing his fingers in. The water was hot, the kind of "hot" that makes flesh cringe. Steam rose slowly, tangling around his hand as he forced himself to endure it.

Around him, ripples and reflections danced on massive support beams. Candles hung captured in cruel iron cages, spilling pallid wax tears to the unfeeling stones. Towels crouched obediently with soaps, oils, and preening-tools lined up neatly, awaiting his hand. Everything was the way he liked it: very solid, certain, and well-contained.

. . . And then there was Noma.

"I had no idea this was even here," the angel murmured. She was sitting—rather awkwardly, he might add—on the floor beside the tub. Not kneeling as he'd told her, no, but flopped with one leg beneath and the other bent to the side, heel pressed to her groin. Nude, of course, as he had not given her permission to dress. But between angels, clothing meant next to nothing. He was nude, as well.

The human's voice came quietly from the rippling dimness: "You should've told us you had a gigantic tub."

Gabriel glanced in his direction. Alex had insisted that he join them, despite his poor health. Gabriel was not given to spoiling pets, but after two threats of following them, and one very pitiful attempt, the boy sat now on the tub's edge next to Gabriel. He was staring down at Noma's crotch.

Gabriel remarked, "Daddy has all sorts of nice things in his Aerie." He stirred the water again. Technically this area was open to all, but, being right next to his quarters, no one came here. Which was just as well; he liked his privacy. Gabriel reached over, letting wet fingers dribble across the boy's dark golden curls.

Alex swatted his hand. "You really do call yourself 'Daddy'?" His nose wrinkled. "I thought that was a joke, when you said it before. Like, 'Daddy's home.'"

"No, not a joke." Gabriel folded his arms. "Well, perhaps a tad tongue-in-cheek."

"So, it's like . . . a 'leather-daddy' thing. With the leather clothes, and you being a Dom, and all."

Gabriel clucked his tongue and tilted his head briefly sideways. "No, that's . . . not it, either."

Very slowly, Alex's attention dragged from Noma to Gabriel. ". . . So what is it?"

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Where, exactly, do you think baby angels come from, Alex?"

It took a few seconds to sink in. Alex's mouth opened, then closed. Noma's eyebrows raised in interest, watching him.

Gabriel spoke to Noma teasingly, eyes on Alex: "Oh, he's a bright one, isn't he?"

"He'll get it," she assured him.

"Male angels?" Alex finally produced. "With . . . girl angels?"

"Mm. Yes. The boy has studied well." Gabriel stood up and began to pace. He gestured toward the human. "Except . . . you see, Alex. I am the alpha male, here. The Archangel. The proverbial man-in-charge. And I, being the primary producer of offspring, do not permit my subordinates to breed."

Alex swallowed hard. He was really taking a while to process this. His eyes flitted down to take in Gabriel's sizeable testicles, as if he couldn't help it. Finally he came up with: "So only the Archangels can breed?"

"Oh, others _can_ breed. Technically. I just don't _let_ them."

Alex paled, at that.

"It's inferior, anyway," Gabriel added. "The females rarely conceive and the males, well. . . ." He shrugged. "Put it this way—it might comfort you, really—Briathos couldn't breed his way out of a paper bag. And if he did, god knows what he'd produce. So, it's a job best kept to the experts."

Alex cleared his throat uncomfortably. "So the male Archangels inseminate the uh. . . ." His voice became pinched. ". . . Female Archangels and—"

Gabriel gestured grandiosely. "Angel spawn. Magnificent, isn't it?"

"I think I might be sick, actually."

Gabriel began to laugh.

"No, seriously, the idea of you with your Sisters—" Alex covered his mouth.

Gabriel laughed harder. "Oh, Alex! Alex, relax." He reached out, capturing and massaging the human's shoulder. "First, I will address your primary concern: inbreeding. With whom do you expect me to mate? We are _all_ related. Every one of my species is somehow tied to me by blood, including the lovely and stubborn Noma, there. So I cannot let that concern me, if I ever want to reproduce. Do you understand that?"

"Yeah, I . . . I guess so. But still."

"And do not forget that, if you go back far enough, all humans are related. No?"

"I, uh." Alex faltered on that one.

"Trust me on that one; long ago, close relatives bred to get you where you are. Part of survival."

At that time, Alex decided the bubbles were enthralling in the water. He ran his fingers through them, making trails. Gabriel chuckled.

"Second, I assure you, Alex, every time I've given my Sisters seed, it has—for the last thousand years at least—been in a nice, pretty jar. Michael too. The distaste is mutual."

Alex relaxed.

Gabriel patted his face. "There, good boy. We angels are not quite as 'Appalachian' as you feared, hm?"

Beneath his hand, Alex's cheek turned pink. "I don't know what that means," he answered, "but just the idea of you having sex with your Sisters really bothered me."

"And the idea of me having sex with Michael does not?" Gabriel looked amused. "Because believe me, I do plenty of that."

Alex hesitated. "Yeah. It does."

Noma's lips pursed, but she said nothing.

Gabriel tilted his head, attention now focused keenly on the boy. Does it, now? Well, that would be a problem. Perhaps the boy did not realize the depth of what he and Brother shared.

Alex dropped his eyes, though, not giving further answer.

Gabriel's eyes narrowed a little. "Any particular reason, Alex?"

Noma rose suddenly, pulling packets out of the basket she'd brought from downstairs. "Think the water's ready," she announced.

Gabriel did not even spare her a look. He slipped an arm around Alex's shoulders, making him uncomfortable and cramped beneath the Archangel's suddenly-imposing Presence. "Tell Gabriel what's wrong," he murmured, and gently—very gently—pushed at the edge of Alex's mind. He would have answer, one way or another.

_Don't force it,_ snapped Alex, pulling back sharply. _I hate when you do that!_

_Then talk to me._ Gabriel combed through his hair. _Don't make me frustrated. I want to be good to you._

Alex shuddered, retreating from Gabriel's touch.

"C'mon Gabriel," pleaded Noma, shaking the salt packet. "Let's get you soaking, okay?"

Gabriel gave her a single glance. She lowered her eyes, but gritted her teeth.

Gabriel returned his attention to the human. _Be a good boy, Alex. Don't hide things from me._ He tugged on Alex's wrist, pressing his lips to the tiny, rising hairs there. Again, Alex tried to shudder back, but Gabriel's grip tightened. His eyes locked on Alex's. He clucked his tongue, once.

"Don't, boy."

The muscles around Alex's eye twitched. His gaze shifted, eyes flitting away from Gabriel's. For a moment, Gabriel glimpsed the haunted Alex: the hollow-eyed one who had howled in despair at Mind-Vega. The scared one, the one he had broken and beaten. His grip loosened on Alex's wrist in shock. He hadn't realized that spectre was still so close to the surface.

Alex swallowed hard, then whispered: "It just makes me upset. That's all."

Gabriel let him go. "We shall work on it." He patted the boy's leg. He released the impending pressure on his mind. He even gave a reassuring smile, but the boy did not look up. "Not so hard, was it?"

Alex combed through the bubbles. "After this I get healing, right?"

"Yes, boy. Absolutely."

Noma exhaled as if she'd been holding her breath. She began sprinkling the holy salts into the water.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Gabriel leaned back in the hot water, panting, eyes squeezed shut. He was on fire, his side ripping with pain as the water and salt sucked poison from within him. He gripped the edge of the tub, teeth gritting to get through it.

Alex spoke in a low voice: "Are the salts supposed to hurt?"

Noma made a quiet sound.

Gabriel arched, hissing, then gave a low moan as the pain finally subsided. His body adjusted to the water, and the salts burned through the poison. He leaned back once more, breathing easier, letting his head roll on the cool stone ledge. His side had sunk to a dull, tingling ache. At last, the hot, salty water took on the opposite effect: he could let his body relax, let the fluid pull pain and tension from his muscles.

Alex was staring at him from the ledge; Gabriel could feel the probe of those angry blue eyes. "Everything you fucking angels do causes pain."

Gabriel reopened his eyes at the accusation. "Where did that come from?"

"Healing salts. Even _healing_ salts cause pain!"

"They do, when you combine a week's worth in far-too-hot water." Gabriel splashed a little. "I figured I could tough it out. I've done it before."

Alex's jaw tightened. Gabriel watched in mild amusement, waiting to see if the muscle twitched like Brother's. It didn't, though.

Gabriel added: "Now that it's burned off the worst of the infection, the pain's gone." He settled deeper into the water, feeling so much better. "Come, Noma, would you like to join me?"

"Will you punish me," she returned, "if the candle floats out?"

"Oh," he purred, "I suspect you can grip it better than that."

She tested the water with one hand. "Don't think it'll burn me?"

"Only if you have any wounds. It won't burn Alex, either—the effect only works on angels."

She nodded and slipped into the opposite side, where a submerged ledge gave seating above a deeper section. The tub could easily fit six to eight people, depending on how big their wings or egos were. Now she sat directly across from him and "innocently" began to wash her inner thighs. Gabriel watched, of course—and smiled at every glimpse of the pale wax candle within her.

"Mmm, girl, when you comport yourself like that, it makes me rethink my rule on second-tier breeding."

She snorted. "Is that what passes for sexy talk with you, these days?"

He reached out, trailing slow fingertips along her forearm, but she flipped it upward, knocking his hand back.

"Oops," she remarked.

He raised an eyebrow. "A bit full of yourself, aren't you."

"Actually, I'm full of candle. Thanks to you." She stroked her inner thigh in slow circles, teasing the flesh.

He caught another flash of wax nestled amongst deep pink, and gave an involuntary shudder. "Mm, you are. Perhaps I can fix that." All this talk of breeding. . . . Gabriel slipped closer, gaze sliding along her body: strong thighs, healthy hips, narrow waist, soft breasts. He could make an exception. Perhaps? It wouldn't hurt, to see what she produced. At very least, they could have some fun. His hand rose through the water, gliding up her side. She twisted away, grinning challenge to him. She had remembered the game.

He grabbed hold of her braid. She groaned, pressing herself against the edge of the tub. He rubbed himself against her thigh, and she reached down, clasping him in the water. He caught his breath, pleasure shooting through him at the sudden contact.

"Didn't give you permission," he breathed.

"Didn't ask."

He sank his teeth into her shoulder, evoking the most glorious moan. She tilted her head back. Her hand began to move in the water, pulling on him, tugging the shaft, thumb deliciously nudging the base of his head. He shuddered again, locking an arm around her narrow waist.

"Look, I want to know something," came Alex's voice.

"Later, boy." He licked the bite-mark he'd given, then kissed it, lingering on her skin. He pulled her against him, using brute strength to hold her in place. He turned her the rest of the way, so she was bent across the edge of the tub.

She arched, rubbing back against him. The candle nudged prominently, dragging against his thigh and pushing hard as she applied more pressure with her hips.

"Take your time, girl, take your time. This is at my pleasure, not yours," he reminded her. The only answer he got was a louder groan.

There came a smack across his shoulder blade. Gabriel turned, eyes narrowing, to find Alex digging for another bar of soap.

"How is it," Gabriel demanded, "every time you're peeved you throw things like a toddler?"

Alex glared. "It was that or the comb thingy with blades."

Gabriel growled. He started to head toward Alex, but Noma's breath caught. She spun, hand lashing out. She gripped him by the shaft.

"Ignore him," Noma whispered. "He's wounded; you'll kill him if you punish. Just play with me."

Gabriel went very stiff, but not perhaps in the way she expected. He lowered his gaze to stare down pointedly at where she held him. "You will remove your hand."

She immediately let go, realizing she'd made an error.

His voice lowered in register: "You will never grasp me there again."

Her lips pursed tight. She raised her dripping arm, but he captured it, holding tightly.

He continued: "Furthermore, you will never touch me, anywhere, without asking prior permission."

Her eyes hardened, going angry. She tugged at her arm, trying to pull away, but he didn't allow it.

"Do you understand these instructions?" he concluded, as if giving her orders to clear out a target range.

"Let me go," she growled.

"Girl, do you _understand_ these instructions?" He kept his voice low, but his eyes were boring into hers. He would have her compliance, one way or another. She _would_ respect his person, as well as his command.

She gave a shudder as his mind slipped into hers. "S-stop." She cringed down a little, squeezing her eyes shut. Just like that, the fight was gone from her; the imposition of his will dragged her back where she belonged.

A tiny smile touched Gabriel's mouth. He had not needed to apply much pressure at all. She was programmed to respond to him that way. All of them were. He reached forward, as if to pet her, but behind him there came a sudden splash.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


The splash caught him by surprise, but the loud, shocked cry is what set him in motion. Both he and Noma shot toward a flailing, gasping form in the water.

"What in hell are you doing?" Gabriel shouted.

"Alex!" Noma reached for him, but Alex pushed past her. His eyes were wide and fixed on Gabriel.

"Wings," the boy managed. He cried out again, clutching his abdomen, curling in on himself.

Gabriel frowned. "Wet feathers cling," he warned, but knelt in the water to wrap both arms and wings around the shuddering human. "Why in hell did you jump in?"

"To kick your ass," moaned Alex.

"Oh, excellent job, then," Gabriel congratulated. "You have it well in hand." He rubbed the boy's back.

Alex clung to him, whole body shaking. He cursed, pressing his forehead against Gabriel's chest. "You and your . . . fucking healing salts!"

"They don't affect humans," Gabriel replied. "But the hot water probably does."

"Just the salt itself," murmured Noma. "Without the ritual additives. Salt burns wounds."

"Well, let's lift you up, then," Gabriel proposed.

"Don't." Alex gripped him with white-knuckled fists. "Leave me in. It's doing something."

Gabriel took a deep breath. Fine. He'd stoop to the boy's superstition. And forgive him for the stupid act. And for the idiotic, apparent attack. Had the boy thought to protect Noma? Is that why he'd taken the leap?

Gabriel leaned back against the edge of the tub, pulling Alex onto his belly. Noma hovered for a minute, biting her lip, uncertain and undecided. Then she retreated to the other side of the tub.

Alex rested with his head on Gabriel's shoulder, still trembling. His bandages were soaked, his muscles tense, his body stiff on top of Gabriel.

_Coming to the female's defense, boy?_ Gabriel prodded.

_Something like that,_ Alex muttered.

_Not your place. On many levels._ Gabriel smoothed his palm down Alex's damp hair. _She was disrespecting me._

_Doesn't mean you can hurt her._

_It does indeed mean I can discipline her. And Michael would do the same._ He slid his hand lower, gliding it along the strong ridges of Alex's shoulder blades and back. _When you equal me in rank, Alex, then you can speak against my discipline. Until then. . . ._

"Yeah, yeah." The surly answer was mumbled into his skin.

"I've gone so fucking soft on you. I should belt you for coming in the bath."

"I haven't _come_ anywhere in days. Somebody won't let me."

Gabriel's eyebrows rose in amusement. "Someone's getting uppity. Does the water hurt less?"

"Yeah, actually. The burn has settled down. Mostly."

"That's good news indeed."

Gabriel felt himself calm, with the boy's weight settled on his belly. He wondered if perhaps that weren't some effect of the boy's markings: a lowering of Archangel blood pressure. It would explain his own response, and also why Brother liked having the boy around. Granted, not a world-saving skill.

The odd thing was, it did seem to be mutual. Alex appeared to calm in the same circumstance. It was possibly the bond, then, some effect he had not heretofore noticed. He should go find William What's-his-face and see if holding him lowered their mutual blood pressure.

. . . Where _was_ that boy, anyway, now that he thought of it? His last glance through William's eyes had revealed a blurry image of eight-balls and dead rats. Ah, well. He had lived out his usefulness, really. It was best to let them go, sometimes.

Alex shifted. "Your erection is jabbing me in the leg."

"Deal with it."

"If I touch it are you going to discipline me, too?"

Gabriel gazed down at him. "Leave it alone," he answered quietly. "You're not well, yet."

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Alex gazed back up at him. "I still want to know something."

"Yes, boy." Gabriel grabbed some soap, so he could wash the two of them.

"I know angels can breed with humans. So why aren't there tons of half-angel, half-humans running around?"

Gabriel dropped the soap.

Noma cleared her throat.

Gabriel slowly licked his lips. "Well. Right." He took a breath and released it. Alex's question appeared to be legitimately curious, which suggested he should legitimately answer it. But . . . awkward. "You haven't seen one, have you?"

"No. But Michael said they exist."

"Right, right." Gabriel cleared his throat. "First, the term is _nefilim_. Somewhat of a vulgar topic, mind you—not for polite conversation. And second, as I told you, ordinary male angels don't breed well."

"They can't fuck?"

"Oh, they can fuck just fine. They'll hump a postbox if you let them. But their sperm is low-quality."

"But it _can, a_ nd it _does_ happen," Alex insisted. "Or there wouldn't be a word for it."

"It can and does," assented Gabriel. "Normally the unborn kill their human mothers from within. It's the claws, you see." He made vague scratching motions in the air. "Unintentional, but. . . ." He shrugged.

"That's awful!"

"I would say, 'convenient.' The world does not _need_ such awful creatures, Alex." Gabriel fished out the soap. His eyes and mind went to Noma: _You haven't had the Birds and the Bees talk with the boy._

_When and under what circumstances would I have that talk, exactly?_ She smiled bitterly at him.

_Dear lord, Noma._ Gabriel took a deep breath.

Alex's mind was still moving. "What about female angels?" came the question.

Gabriel paused.

". . . Because they'd be able to carry it. Right?" Alex glanced over at Noma. "Right?"

Gabriel sighed. "Here is the part where we must speak man-to-man, you and I."

Alex looked skeptical. "The entire time I've been here, Gabriel, it's been superangel-to-pet."

". . . Yes." Gabriel cleared his throat. "Listen. You mustn't get Noma pregnant."

"Why?"

"Because I will kill it."

Alex jerked back, splashing into the water.

"Consider that fair warning." Gabriel watched him flail before righting himself. "If Noma conceives, I cannot let her carry to term. A nefil is the last thing we need."

Alex gaped. "We just went through the most awful scene with you and your so—"

"Shh!" Gabriel clapped his hand over Alex's mouth. _Are you mad? You swore not to talk about that!_

Alex was very angry. His eyes did go to Noma, though, and back to Gabriel's face. Slowly he nodded. _. . . Most awful scene with you and your son!_ he continued mentally. _And now you're threatening to_ kill _my son? Really, Gabriel? Really, that's how you're going to treat this?!_

_I have to kill any nefilim, Alex. I have no choice. This world cannot support monsters like that. They have our power, our bodies, but a human's spirit. Total lack of control._

_Oh, because you have such awesome self-control, don't you?_ Alex hollered back at him.

_They are monsters, Alex!_ Gabriel shouted. _Father ordered us to destroy them all! And for very good reason! You've never seen what they can do._

"If I get Noma pregnant," hissed Alex aloud, "I'll damnsure see what they can do."

Noma gave a little gasp.

"You will not breed her," Gabriel growled.

"Accidents happen."

Gabriel regarded him somberly for a moment. "You . . . _did_ catch the bit where I don't allow my subordinates to breed. Yes?"

"And you did catch the word 'accident,' right?"

Then Gabriel started to chuckle. "There's no such thing as an accident with a female angel." Gabriel laughed. "Noma, do not conceive from Alex's seed. It would make a mess."

"You can't order me," she replied smoothly. "I'm under Michael's command."

Gabriel took a breath. "Noma, I've had a tremendously long and difficult day. Please just say 'yes' and nod your pretty head. For me. This once."

Noma said nothing. She gave him a steady look, rummaged in her basket, and raised another packet of holy salts. "Do you want these poured directly on your wound, or in the water like the first? Super Archangel Gabriel."

"Do not mock me!" Gabriel held up a fist.

She answered: "If it happens, it—"

"I am sworn to kill them, Noma. _All_ of them, _always_!" Gabriel stared her down. "Do you understand that? Can I make myself any clearer?"

She shook her head.

"It's not a 'hobby' I picked up on an odd weekend; it is an oath to our Father! I've killed six since the War started and I shall probably kill twice that before it's done. Please, Noma, _please_ , for Father's sake . . . do not make yours the seventh!"

She flinched.

Gabriel leaned forward, voice falling to a conspiratorial murmur: "For fuck's sake, Noma, if you are _that_ desperate to carry—"

"Don't." She held up a hand. "Besides, I'd take Michael's seed before yours."

"Well, thanks very much." Gabriel grimaced.

She rose, water streaming down her back and heart-shaped buttocks. She wrapped herself in a towel, braced one leg on the wall, and pulled the candle from within her. Then she flung it at Gabriel, who barely knocked it aside in time.

"To hell with you _both_!" she declared, as she disappeared down the hall.

"What'd I do?" exclaimed Alex.

"Don't antagonize her, boy. She'll get over whatever it is, soon enough." Gabriel poked at the candle, which now was floating in the salt-laden water. He glanced at Alex. "You did push her aside, to get to me."

"You're the one with the healy-wings. I was hurting."

Gabriel shrugged one shoulder. "Fair." He cleaned the candle thoroughly with soap, then patted it carefully dry.

Alex watched this, then suddenly groaned. "You're gonna reuse that, aren't you?"

"I don't see why not. It's still in excellent condition."

"I meant, you're gonna reuse that on me."

Gabriel favored him with a dark smile.

Alex cringed. "Can we at least start with a smaller candle?"

Gabriel chuckled wickedly. "We'll start with a birthday candle if needed, Alex."

"Great."  
  
---


	7. Restraints & Safewords

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex and Gabriel tussle a bit over who's in charge. Alex tries a safeword and Gabriel ... well, isn't very safe? Alex teaches Gabe a different sort of restraint.
> 
> Happy Random Quote:
>
>>   
>  Gabriel got out of bed. "I am well within my right to restrain you, whenever it pleases me." Gabriel bent over him, tugging on his hipbones and arm.  
>  "And I am--" Alex gasped, then grudgingly gripped the Archangel's neck. "--Well within my rights to tell you to go fuck yourself."  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second half of this is written, but I chickened out. I like to let things sit a day or two before I post them. That way I can chew on them (read: edit) and make sure I really meant to say everything in them, before they go out for everyone to see. :)

**Chapter 23**

The patient snip of scissors filled the room. Gabriel maneuvered them through sopping bandages, silver flashing as he clipped one inch at a time. He was thinking still of punishing the boy for leaping in the bath. Foolish thing to do. Luckily, the towels beneath them now caught most of the dampness. It would not do to ruin his new bed covers.

Alex lay in blue-pooled shadow. He was pale against the dark satin and velvet, the sun's deep kiss having long since faded from his flesh. His eye-sockets were more darkness, but Gabriel could see the orbs within flitting back and forth. Alex was looking him over, uneasy. Unsure.

"She's angry," came the boy's quiet conclusion.

"She will get over it." Gabriel snipped the last of the bandages free. Very carefully he began to peel back the stained fabric. "Let's get you heal—"

He stopped. Beneath the bandages, where he expected to find still-gaping flesh, he found a tight, puckered line. There was bruising to either side, and swollen redness where clearly the flesh had been traumatized. But nothing like the gash he'd seen, before. He pursed his lips and traced his finger along the three-inch mark.

Alex shuddered, fists squeezing suddenly on satin. "What're you _doing_?" he gritted.

"Shh." Gabriel shifted his weight forward. He inhaled the scent of the wound. There was no infection. Blood, yes. The scent of raw flesh healing. The normal smell of injury. Gabriel's eyes dragged up to the boy's worried expression. Suspicion filled his chest, now, clinging and chill. "What did you do?"

"What did _I_ do?" Alex demanded. He pushed Gabriel's face away from his wound and struggled to sit up for a look.

"Yes, you. This should be putrid. This should be wide open. We've not stitched it. Only a handful of feathers to staunch the internal bleeding and a handful more to seal the outside. Little more than a bandaid. Hell, boy, you should have died hours ago. Yet you look nearly healed."

"Why do you you sound pissed off about that?" Alex traced fingers up the pink, puckered line, catching his breath as he hit sensitive spots. "I don't know, Gabriel!"

"The markings? Is that what they do?" Gabriel's fingertips returned to Alex's skin, now following the tattoos. "Do they heal you, Alex?"

"Not that I know of." Alex wriggled back from the touch. "That tickles."

"Hold still!"

"Stop it." Alex tried to pull away again, so Gabriel trapped him by the wrists. "C'mon, Gabriel! Not the wrists." He pulled, but Gabriel didn't let go.

"Be still."

Alex grimaced. He twisted, tugging at Gabriel's grip. His breath had become quick in his chest, gaze fixed above his head.

The Archangel frowned, focused on examining the wound. He glanced up at his headboard, lifted Alex's wrists, and secured them in the handcuffs there.

"Whoa!" shouted Alex. "Whoa, I'm not ready for—"

"Silence." Gabriel's fingers returned to the examination, very gently probing the raised flesh. The skin was tightly sealed, like the mark on his side, where the poison had been drawn out. He scratched idly at that mark, now. It did itch badly.

Alex arched on the bed, tugging at the restraints so they clinked. His voice became strained: "Gabriel."

"Could the salt have done this?" mused Gabriel. "Just the salt, itself? Not the holy aspect of it."

Alex raised his voice: "Gabriel!"

Carefully Gabriel squeezed the edges of the puckered line. The seal was tighter than one would expect ordinary salt to effect. Yes, it did look almost exactly like his own, mostly-healed injury. How curious.

Alex jerked against the handcuffs, gritting his teeth. "Goddammit. Red!"

Gabriel's gaze floated to Alex's face. Red, what about red? The word seemed significant. And Alex looked so strained, so uneasy. So helpless, so unhappy. So . . . helpless, yes. So powerless. He felt the heat ignite deep within him.

Then came the boy's push into his mind: _Red. Gabriel, red! Please, goddammit!_

Finally it clicked. _That's your safe word,_ Gabriel realized. _Brother told me that._

_Fuck yes, that's my fucking safe word; get me out of these fucking cuffs!_ Alex's voice was at once angry and afraid.

Gabriel reached over to the bedside table; he dug through the drawer.

_Faster than that!_ shouted Alex. _When I call "red" I mean it!_

"Shh, shh shh." Gabriel found the keys. He placed one hand below the boy's jaw, cupping it loosely, and began to stream steady comfort and calm into his mind. "Easy, Alex." With the other hand, he unlocked the cuffs.

Alex went limp in his hand. His eyes rolled and went half-lidded.

"There's a good boy," Gabriel cooed. He tossed the keys back and pressed a light kiss to that golden brow. "All you had to do was ask."

Alex made a mumbled, incoherent noise.

Gabriel dialed back the comfort and calm mix, realizing he had laid it on far too thickly. As he did, the haunted-Alex came to the fore. It was like submerging someone into murky water and watching a ghost come back up. The boy's body animated: eyes widening, mouth opening, arms curling around himself. When Gabriel reached for him, he pushed off against the bed, shoving against the headboard as if looking for shelter. His gaze flitted around the room.

Gabriel had a sinking feeling. "Don't do that," he murmured. "I did not harm you."

"Leave me alone."

"Not going to happen." Instead, he lay down in the warm, damp hollow Alex had occupied. He threw the towels into the floor. He stretched his arms open, patted his chest, and gestured for Alex. "Come to me."

Alex shook himself. "Give . . . give me a minute."

So Gabriel reached for him again.

Alex backed off farther. "I said give me a minute!" He hugged himself, lean arms tight around his ribs. He hissed in pain, still not fully recovered, and uncomfortable in this position.

Gabriel couched his tone soothingly: "Alexxx. Don't do this. Be a good boy. Come here so I can give healing."

"I'm not a goddamn 'boy.'" Alex crumpled over, biting his lip. He stared at his own wound, apparently bewildered and frustrated at how weak and pained it had left him. "All this time you still treat me like a goddamn pet."

"You _are_ a pet. You're human."

"Fuck you, Gabriel!"

"And we are back to that." Gabriel folded his hands on his chest.

"Look, I've got to pee." Alex stretched one leg out, got most of his weight on it, and shoved the other beside it. He took a step and faltered, grimacing. Another step, and his gasp of pain filled the room. Gabriel watched him, offering no help. He knew it was unwelcome, anyway.

Naturally, the boy went down. When he did, it was hard and made even Gabriel wince. Alex lay where he landed, panting raggedly, then hissing as his wound informed him it did not appreciate the effort. Gabriel heard the sound go muffled as the boy pressed his face to the floor.

Gabriel sighed, gazing up at the ceiling. He was calculating how long before the boy asked for help—and realizing Alex would drag himself on his belly, long before that occurred.

"Stubborn," he murmured.

"Was fine until you cuffed me." Alex's voice was still muffled.

"I wanted to see the wound."

"And you couldn't say, 'hey Alex, raise your arms?'" Alex's bitter words were punctuated by a gasp.

Gabriel grunted. "Apologize for the f-word and I shall carry you."

"Fuck you, Gabriel."

"And that one, too."

"Fuck you twice!" Alex began dragging himself.

Gabriel scowled, watching this. He knew the floor was filthy; his own pus, for sure, had leaked there mere hours past. "Apologize, you stubborn monkey."

"Apologize for cuffing me!"

"I will not."

"Then I won't." Alex's eyes were rimmed in red. He was not nearly as well-healed as the external appearance would indicate. He needed more healing.

Gabriel got out of bed. "I am well within my right to restrain you, whenever it pleases me." Gabriel bent over him, tugging on his hipbones and arm.

"And I am—" Alex gasped, then grudgingly gripped the Archangel's neck. "—Well within my rights to tell you to go fuck yourself."

Gabriel straightened, balancing the boy's weight. "Pain in the ass." He carried Alex into the bathroom.

"I don't want you to—"

"Watch you. I'm aware." Gabriel set him down in the shower, and left him there.

The word was reluctant, but genuine: "Thanks."

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


When Gabriel put them both back in bed, the boy was quieter. More withdrawn. Not beaten, per se, but weary. Sore. Gabriel, too, was a bit tired of arguing and demonstrations of will.

"Lie with me," he rumbled. Not giving Alex much of a choice, he rolled on his side and slid one wing beneath the boy. To his relief, he felt Alex roll in turn and press back against him. It was becoming second nature. "Good boy."

"M'not a boy," Alex mumbled.

"Don't argue." Gabriel curled around him and placed his palm on that flat, puckered belly. He found himself breathing into those golden curls again. Now they smelled of sweet soap, and his own skin. He found he rather liked the combination.

"Cold," whispered Alex.

Gabriel slipped his top wing in place, then pulled the heavy covers up. Between his arms, both wings, and the merciless velvet, the bed became a veritable cocoon. He curled his legs up, melding them against the firm crescent of Alex's buttocks and thighs. To his surprise, Alex nestled close.

"So why the safeword?" Gabriel murmured, once the room had settled to silence. "I was not hurting you."

"Seems silly now," Alex breathed, "safe and warm in your arms. But at the time? I was exposed and at risk."

"You have no trust," Gabriel concluded.

"Hell no, I don't trust. You've _hurt_ me, Gabriel. Probably more than any person alive."

"Mm." Gabriel lightly traced the line down Alex's belly. "We will work on that."

"No, I don't wanna work on that. I want to rest."

"We must work on that. We've no choice."

Alex looked over his shoulder. He shook his head incredulously.

Gabriel kissed the back of his neck. He breathed the words against the boy's skin: "You must learn to trust me. Learn to do as I say." Very, very lightly, he bit the skin.

Alex exhaled. He lowered his head, but not much. "I'm not an angel, Gabriel. You can't bully me into obedience."

Gabriel licked the skin under his teeth. "Roll on your belly."

"I don't want to."

"Damned free will." Gabriel nipped his ear. "Been nothing but a pain, since Father gave it to your kind."

"Fancy that," murmured Alex, with just a hint of Gabriel's tone in his voice.

"Do _not_ mock me." Gabriel bit down until Alex hissed. Then he let go. "Roll on your belly, because it pleases me."

"What if I don't want to please you?"

"You should."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Damn it, boy." Gabriel sighed. He had few solutions for that; it was either ask nicely or force his will. The Archangel toolbox was painfully limited. If Alex refused the first, he had only the second to fall back on. The truth was, free will did stymie him. Angels obeyed due to his dominance, Presence, and their programming. He had to bully and brutalize humans to make it so.

But at the moment . . . he felt he'd done enough brutalizing, here, to last a lifetime. He wanted to take a gentler tack.

Alex's voice was very quiet, in the frustrated silence that followed: "Michael had the same problem."

Gabriel snorted. "No doubt. Brother never did have patience for human foibles. In the old days, humans obeyed or . . . else."

"He had more patience, though. With me." Slowly Alex's hand slid down through the covers. He clasped Gabriel's and interlaced their fingers.

Gabriel relaxed his hand, allowing Alex to do so.

In a low, uneasy voice, Alex suggested, "Try restraining me this way." To Gabriel's sensitive ear, it sounded almost like Alex felt he was betraying himself.

Gabriel's head tilted slightly. He glided his thumb across the back of Alex's warm hand. "This comforts you?"

"No. But it's more personal than a grab at my wrists." Alex swallowed hard and shifted against him. For just a moment, his whole body went tense. "There's stuff you don't know, Gabriel."

Gabriel took this calmly. "There are parts of you into which I have not delved," he acknowledged. "Private areas, too personal to probe." He rubbed his cheek against Alex's, allowing their unshaven hair to scratch together.

Alex hesitated, then nodded.

He whispered into Alex's ear: "I will still use the cuffs."

"F-fine." Alex shook his head. "Just don't spring them on me. Let me warm up to them."  
  
---


	8. Healing and Lack of Restraint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated NC-17 for M/M frottage, masturbation, hand-jobs, submission, and Archangel assholity.
> 
> Gabriel gives Alex some healing. Things get a little heated up. Alex gets playful and Gabriel lets him, but things get a little out of hand. Gabriel puts his asshole hat back on.
> 
> Random Happy Quote:
>
>> "I swear, it's like handling a high-bred horse at times. Just when you think it's safe to mount, you get kicked." Gabriel resumed the flow of healing, which had lessened while they talked. Beneath him, Alex subsided, but not all the way. "You do not have to fight me _always_ , you know."
>> 
>> "Name one time I don't."
>> 
>> "Now."
>> 
>> Alex exhaled. It was a frustrated sound. "All you ever do is lie and manipulate, to get your way."
>> 
>> "I do nothing of the kind." He was fairly certain he did nothing of the kind, at least. 
>> 
>> Alex grumbled, "Why do you wanna 'mount' me so much, anyway?"
>> 
>> Gabriel stared at the far wall. Therein lay the crux of the matter. Privately he thought: _. . . Because you kick me, I suppose._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah the scene's still not completely finished yet. I am finding I can only heavily write, edit, and rewrite about 2000-2500 words a night, assuming I have all night. It did not used to take me this long. And the quality is still crap when I post it. Sorry.
> 
> I need to completely rewrite the next portion; I hate the way it played out. So it needs another day or so. Cliffhanger! O noes.

**Chapter 24**

"Let you, 'warm up to the the cuffs.' I can do that." A satisfied rumble filled Gabriel's throat. "Willing to compromise. That pleases me." He coupled the words with the first surge of true healing: a warm, thick burst rippling through him to the human, bending and transforming like sunlight through a prism. The holy salts had given him a very good recharge. Now the power radiated just above his groin, to flow through spirit and skin alike.

Alex stiffened, but not in pain. He gave a breathy gasp, head rolling back onto Gabriel's shoulder. His body flexed, even his buttocks tightening against Gabriel's loins. "O-ohhh," was the wondering sound he made.

"Good boy," breathed Gabriel. A wave of protectiveness rose as Alex stretched, bare-throated and nude, at his mercy. For a moment he drank that in, gliding light fingertips across Alex's shivering belly.

Alex's eyes were cracked open, but unseeing. His lips were parted, pulling in puffs of air in rhythm with the surges of power.

"That's it, now. Let it flow."

Gabriel could do this all day. Not just because the healing felt so good, but because Alex was so delightful, captured in this stunned-yet-willing helplessness. It was submission of an unexpected kind, a giving of himself over to Gabriel's skill.

Gabriel shivered. Here was the flip side of the dark hunger that rose, often, when he saw Alex pinned and helpless. He wanted not to control and overpower, now, but to hold, guide, and heal.

Gabriel continued to stroke him. He was teasing energy into Alex, letting it spill all through his flesh. Beneath his hand, he could feel internal injuries sealing, bruises dissipating, ripped flesh beginning to fuse. These were deeper wounds that the salt could not reach, but his energy easily could.

Alex moaned. He began to rock against Gabriel, his pelvis shifting in time with the flow of power. The healing process was not innately sexual, but because of where it centered, and how it streamed between them now, it was progressing in that direction. Gabriel slipped an arm around Alex, groaning as pleasure curled in his loins. He rolled his hips, dragging pure, swollen joy across heated skin.

"Dear god," he breathed in the boy's ear. "Part your thighs for me."

Alex's breath caught with sudden tension, and the helpless submission shattered. _Can't, Gabriel, can't. Don't. Please._

"Mm." Gabriel's kiss pulled at the wild pulse below Alex's ear. "Trust Gabriel. I won't."

Alex shivered. He did not trust Gabriel. But he lifted one leg, hesitating, uneasy, shuddering as Gabriel's thigh nudged it higher.

Gabriel rewarded him with a kiss to the neck. "Good boy." In relief, he slid his erection between the boy's thighs. His hand glided down, lifted Alex's testes, and adjusted both of them for comfort. "Thank god; crammed against your arse I thought I was going to die. I'm a big boy, Alex."

Once Alex realized they were not having intercourse, he interlaced their fingers again and pressed close.

Gabriel smiled. He kept the energy flowing, kept the healing power streaming through both of them. It was warm, renewing. Very good.

"See, _this_ is what happens when you please me," he whispered.

"W-why didn't you say so?" Alex pulled their interlocked hands against his chest. He gripped that with his other hand, still panting lightly. His body shook with the flow of power, twitching now and then as a surge hit them both.

Gabriel watched him for a time, then spoke: "Show me Michael." It was an order, but he kept his voice light.

Alex's hand tightened. "I can't." __

So Gabriel repeated the order more firmly in his mind: _Show me Michael. Show me my Brother faltering, trying to restrain you, seeing you panic._

Alex winced. _Gabriel, I can't. It's private._

Gabriel allowed his voice to harden slightly: _Alex._

_. . . Besides, it wasn't quite like that._

_Then show me,_ Gabriel insisted, _how you came to know of this fingers-interlocked grasp. How it replaced a grip on your wrists._

And just like that, the image bloomed in his mind: Michael, with that baby-soft lower lip pressed against Alex's knuckles, fingers intertwined with his own. Michael's hands were never soft. Graceful, yes, with elegant long fingers and perfect claws, but tough skin used to the wear of a weapon, like his own.

This hand, though, was tremendously gentle as it held Alex's.

"Relax," came Michael's voice, from memory. "Take a deep breath, Alex. I'll enter slowly."

Against Gabriel, Alex groaned in need. His body gave a shudder as the memory of penetration swept over him.

"Ohhh, naughty," purred Gabriel, enjoying the delicious sensations that followed. "Oh, he was _very_ good to you. I can see why that particular grip would stay with you."

"S-see what I mean!" exclaimed Alex, breaking out of the reverie. "That shit is _private_! He'd be angry if he knew I shared!"

"Oh, Alex, you've no idea the things he and I share." Gabriel nibbled his shoulder, chortling. "I know more about his habits than you'd care to imagine."

"Still."

"I assure you, Brother would not be upset. He would, in your case specifically, probably offer to hold you down for my turn."

"He wouldn't!" Alex gasped.

"He would. Because he'd know I would bungle it. Be too rough." Gabriel moved to Alex's neck, lips tugging at his pulse.

"He wouldn't." Alex didn't sound so sure. From his skin rose fresh pheromones: arousal . . . and plenty of fear.

Gabriel took a deep whiff, sorting through that. The arousal was delicious. The fear even more so. But the boy feared being held down—even by Michael—whilst being entered? The thought quickened him deep inside. Now he wanted it a hundred times more.

Lightly he scraped his bottom teeth along the boy's vertebrae. "Trust me, Alex," he breathed. "Trust me, boy. I'd not harm you. A little pain on the way in. A lot of pleasure thereafter."

Alex shuddered. "I've had you," he answered. "It was a lot of both."

Gabriel kissed the scraped skin with light pressure, pushing Alex down into the mattress as he did so. "Only because you fought me. Had you surrendered, there would have been none of that."

"You're so full of shit." Alex pulled forward, but Gabriel crushed him down.

"Shh, shh shh." Gentle kisses, now, pressed upon the boy's temple. "Shh, Alex. Be still. Be calm."

"Don't zap me again with that 'calm' shit."

Gabriel shook his head. "Just be calm for me. I shan't 'zap' you."

Alex closed his eyes, but he was trembling just a bit.

"I swear, it's like handling a high-bred horse at times. Just when you think it's safe to mount, you get kicked." Gabriel resumed the flow of healing, which had lessened while they talked. Beneath him, Alex subsided, but not all the way. "You do not have to fight me _always_ , you know."

"Name one time I don't."

"Now."

Alex exhaled. It was a frustrated sound. "All you ever do is lie and manipulate, to get your way."

"I do nothing of the kind." He was fairly certain he did nothing of the kind, at least. Gabriel pulled Alex back so they both were on their sides, as before, with his erection safely between the boy's thighs.

Alex grumbled, "Why do you wanna 'mount' me so much, anyway?"

Gabriel stared at the far wall. Therein lay the crux of the matter. Privately he thought: _. . . Because you kick me, I suppose._

"Dammit, I am so goddamn hard," Alex complained. "Did you zap me?"

_That, and you're the only horse of your kind._ "No." Gabriel ran his fingers along the markings.

In his arms, Alex tilted his pelvis and began gliding both of their erections deliciously together, the tip of Gabriel's along the underside of his own.

Gabriel gasped at the sudden swell of pleasure. He pushed forward, offering more of himself. He teased, "What happened to 'can't, Gabriel, don't, please?'"

Alex shuddered. "You'll rip me to pieces if you fuck me. But god, I need to come." __

"And I don't?" Gabriel chuckled.

"Don't force me, Gabe. Dammit, please." Alex's hand tightened on his. "This feels too good. Don't wreck it."

"Shh." Gabriel shifted on the bed. "In Ancient Greece they had a solution for this. They called it _diamerizein_."

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


"Diamer-what? Is it painful?"

"No. But also not highly satisfying, in my opinion. It means 'between the thighs.' Here. Roll toward me and press your legs together, tightly." Gabriel slipped backward to let him move. As he did so, he reminded himself to slide back in low, so he wasn't dragging himself against the boy's scrotum. The last thing he needed was to grind full power against that, and thus end up bruising, damaging, or—god forbid—castrating the boy somehow. He could hear Michael now: "You did _what_ to my collared one?!"

Alex groaned at the loss of friction. He wriggled unhappily.

"Not as fun, hm?" Gabriel twisted on the bed, stretching for the bedside table where the good lube was. Finding it out of reach, he made a dissatisfied sound and had to disentangle himself from blankets, bedding, and boy. Finally he rolled in that direction and dug for the jar.

Long, lean-muscular legs filled his vision when he turned his head back around. The sight of a deep rose erection, flat belly, and puckered wound followed. Then the rest of Alex settled into place on Gabriel's thighs, with a cheeky, smirking grin.

"Now who's on top?" Alex greeted him.

Gabriel tapped his captured jar of lube. He folded his wings, to prevent any mistaken idea they might be lying flat in submission. "Well. Look who has his spunk back."

Alex leaned over him, planting broad hands on Gabriel's chest. "Guess I gotcha."

"Oh, my, whatever shall I do." Gabriel set aside the jar and gazed up into that saucy expression. "I am not done healing you, however."

"We both know you were getting the lube to fuck me."

"It was for your thighs, and my palm, to be wrapped around that nice, pink cock."

Alex looked down. He shifted forward, pushing his erection against Gabriel's. "This one?"

"Assuming you don't have another—" Gabriel's breath caught, as Alex slowly glided them together. "—H-hidden somewhere."

"Be cool if I did. Might actually impress you Archangels, for once."

"Mm." Gabriel couldn't quite keep his voice steady, as now Alex had opened the lube and begun smearing it along his shaft. The sweet herbal scent flooded the room a moment before the sharp tingle rushed his loins. "Just a _dab_ , boy! Remember it has stimulating oils!"

"I remember."

Gabriel sucked in a breath, arching on the bed as glorious waves of sensation began to sweep through him. They surged up his spine, sending warm waves of ice through his nervous system. He bit his lip, moaning through it.

Alex pushed his own cock hard against Gabriel's, then jolted back as the effect hit him, too. "Oh, shit yeah, that's strong!"

"Mm-hm." Gabriel let his hand trail off the bed and his legs splay open. Fuck it; let the boy do what he wanted.

Alex peered down at him, grinning. "Wow, look at you."

"M'fine." Gabriel waved him away. "That's why you only use a dab."

"Yeah? How 'bout a little of this." Alex stretched out on top of Gabriel, lean body ratcheting slowly, cock gliding against his with slow, sure motions. Gabriel gazed up at him through half-lidded eyes, keeping still for now. The boy's body was strong, his back arched, the muscles shifting in the candlelight. His golden hair, that cocky grin, those laughing eyes . . . for a minute they reminded him of someone long gone. Gabriel gave a bittersweet smile.

Alex was enjoying himself. He ground against Gabriel, organs slipping and sliding across one another, until he couldn't stand it any longer. Then he gripped them together in one hand. He strained to encompass them both, but did manage it. He then proceeded to stroke them, both shafts clutched tight, lube squeezing out between in thick, oily globs.

Gabriel allowed it. He let the boy play on top, let him stroke, rock and bear his weight down. There was dominance in it, but only a bit. Gabriel reached up, gliding a light hand down Alex's ribs.

"Pretty boy," he whispered.

Alex's pelvis worked faster. His hand clenched around them both, milking furiously, body caught in a desperate frenzy of desire. He made a low, strained moan, working them in fervent concentration.

Gabriel allowed himself to be pleasured, allowed Alex's joy to coincide with his own, but it was not to last; as the boy neared climax, Gabriel began to pump his pelvis against the rhythm, taking control.

Alex's eyes widened for a second. He gave a frustrated grimace and tried reestablishing control with his hand. Gabriel chuckled wickedly and rescinded control, only to take it back again a minute later. This time he got a flash of bared teeth.

"C'mon, Gabe!" came the protest. "Gimme a break, here. Don't you want a hand job, for fuck's sake?"

"I want far more," slurred Gabriel, "but I'll take what I can get."

"Then keep the fuck still."

Gabriel laughed. The human was darling, on top. He had no fucking idea how to dominate, but he was adorable. Gabriel made his pelvis go still, closed his eyes, and let the boy's furious stroking bring them both to the edge. He arched, sucking in great lungfuls of air, groaning at each slow, simmering flare of pleasure.

Above him, he heard and felt the sharp jerks, the muffled grunts as Alex brought himself to climax. The boy's spirit opened against him, energy flowing beautifully against his own like warm, vibrant fountains. Gabriel smiled at the familiar spatter and smell of seed.

"Keep going," he urged. "I'm close."

Alex resumed stroking, his efforts now concentrated on Gabriel alone. Gradually the oils cleared somewhat from his system, giving Gabriel clarity that Alex's hand was just _barely_ missing the spot he needed, where his flange folded up into delicate slit. In fact, Alex seemed to have lost some of his focus. Gabriel shifted, trying to guide Alex to the spot. Then he opened his eyes.

He discovered the problem: Alex's gaze was no longer on his cock. In fact, Alex was looking above their heads, where his free hand had just clasped Gabriel's. Gabriel felt him gently interlace their fingers, press Gabriel's hand to the mattress, then let go.

Gabriel chuckled. If Alex thought Gabriel was going to submit, he really had another thing—

The click was what gave him away. Gabriel moved so fast, he launched Alex completely off the bed. The moment his feet touched stone, Gabriel spun, plunged his hand down, and jerked the boy up into a sitting position. Before Alex even realized what had happened, Gabriel stood over him, gripping him harshly by a handful of curls.

Alex's breath was coming very fast, now, and all traces of laughter had left his expression. He held both hands up, empty. "Was just playing," he called. "Just playing, Gabriel."

Gabriel's fist tightened in those curls. He pulled Alex's head back, eyes narrowing. "Thought you'd get me in the cuffs."

"Just playing," repeated Alex in a shaky voice. He tried to scoot back on the floor, but Gabriel didn't release him.

"Over the side of the bed."

"Oh god," gasped Alex. His voice was immediately sick. "Gabriel, no."

Gabriel dragged him there by the hair. They both were trembling—Alex with dread, he with rage. It was mostly the betrayal; Alex had ruined a moment he had chosen to be open, to relax the rules and allow the boy to play.

"Don't . . . don't punish in anger, Gabriel!"

"Don't repeat my own rules back to me," he growled. He pushed Alex's face into the mattress.

Alex squirmed against it, bent sharply over the side of the bed.

Gabriel held him there, but did let him breathe. "Damn you, boy, I _just_ got you healed. Now I have to damage you again."

"Don't do this, Gabriel." Alex crossed his wrists above his head. "Look, I'll sit here for you. Nice and quiet. Don't have to force me." He put himself roughly into the position Gabriel had shown him days before, for the belting: kneeling, legs together, head down. He was still trembling, though.

Gabriel let go of him. He took a few steps away. Alex followed with his gaze, but didn't otherwise move.  
  
---


	9. Presence & Punishment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated **Soft NC-17** for M/M nudity, fondling, hand-jobs, belt-spanking, frottage, inter-thigh sex, blood, nonconsensual touching, and imagined rape.
> 
> Alex pays the price for trying to trick an Archangel.
> 
> Happy Random Quote:
>
>> "Disobedience must be answered with punishment," Gabriel lectured him. "Five strokes with the belt, tonight."
>> 
>> Alex swallowed hard and braced himself.
>> 
>> That muscular behind was so lovely, but not made for spankings. It was too lean. There was nothing for that now, however.
>> 
>> "Ready?"
>> 
>> Before Alex could answer, Gabriel drew the belt high and snapped it down across his rear. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *scratches head* I'm not quite sure where any of this came from. It is not re-edit of what I had written, it's a completely different thing altogether. Which means the 2000+ words of fight and quasi-submission I -did- write will need to be stuck in elsewhere. :-/ ah well.
> 
> This is actually (mostly) my work, not Gabriel Muse's. You can tell because it's ugly and not poetic. :P

**Chapter 25**

Gabriel took a few steps backward. His mind was filled with impressions of the boy: inked skin quivering; empty hands spreading in fumbling supplication; blue eyes wide and seeking his, pleading mercy for a crime at which he knew he'd just been caught.

So close. He had come so close to trusting the damned creature. He had let the boy play, and the boy had betrayed him. Gabriel searched for a belt by dim candlelight. He needed a good one: leather, and fairly stiff. Alex would pay, the defrayal meted out in extended payments, each marked clearly on flesh and counted aloud by the debtor.

"Gabriel," whispered Alex urgently. "Gabriel, please."

"Be silent, and remain where you are. I will speak to you when I am ready."

There was no use punishing now; he must let himself cool. His angelic strength would undo them both.

This was the product of his own folly; he had allowed the boy too much leeway. He was too lenient, that's what it was. The same reason his soldiers were running amock. He had let the boy fool and cavort and play, when clearly the boy required training and discipline.

He could do discipline.

The Archangel found what he needed. At last he stood in silence, watching the human. Alex stayed absolutely motionless—well, as motionless as a human could manage. He was still trembling and breathing, scratching himself and blinking. Now and then he glanced to make sure Gabriel was still there. As if the Archangel might somehow teleport away, or transmogrify himself from a dark, looming figure of doom into harmless moonlight.

But Alex did as he commanded. He stayed in position, awaiting punishment, scared and bent over. That surprised Gabriel more than a little.

In fairness, Alex had come a long way from the cocky and defiant beast which had first graced his chambers weeks ago. _That_ Alex would not be anywhere near the bed, much less kneeling where he'd placed him. That Alex would, far more likely, be shooting at him from the hallway, or at least shooting off his mouth. . . .

Finally Gabriel stepped forward, causing Alex to stiffen and brace himself. In his most formal, Dominant voice, he spoke: "You have displeased, tonight."

Alex bent his head, staring at his fingers. "Yeah, no shit," he whispered.

Gabriel's wings twitched. "And replies like that do nothing to please me, either."

Alex lowered his head to the mattress.

"Do you understand that this is punishment, not play? That you will receive no aftercare for it?"

The human didn't answer.

"Alex?"

"What happened, Gabe?" The human's voice was strained.

Gabriel shifted his weight, stretching the leather belt between his hands. "You betrayed me, Alex."

"I was just playing."

"No, you weren't. You were trying to trick me, and to put me into a submissive position. From where I stand, that is an attack."

Alex slid backwards to sit on his own heels. He turned, craning his neck so he gazed up at Gabriel. The Archangel saw that his cheeks were wet. "I was almost beginning to like you," he whispered. "The way you were holding me, the way you were treating me. It was almost like Michael."

Gabriel sighed, glancing down at the floor. "I am not my Brother, Alex. At times I wish I were."

With that, Alex gave a sad laugh and opened memory to him. Now Gabriel saw Michael, his soft lips pressed in tight fury. Shirtless, dressed in loose martial arts pants, and shoving Alex face-first against a wall. The harsh grip of those graceful fingers was bruising Alex's wrists. The harsher bite of Michael's whip was striking Alex's back, as Michael made his displeasure known. Even now, Alex cringed in on himself as he shared it.

Gabriel nodded calmly. He'd seen it before, but not with Alex. "What had you done?"

Alex's voice was low: "Forgot to kneel to him, in greeting."

"Ah, yes. Brother does stand on ceremony."

"You—" Alex sniffed. "You have never once made me kneel. Not like that. Why?"

Gabriel looked down at the belt in his hands. "I was rather waiting for you to do it on your own."

"Why? We both know you could make me."

"That isn't the point, now, is it." Gabriel gave a bitter half-smile. "I _could_ make you do, well . . . anything at all."

Alex pursed his lips uneasily and looked away.

"Tell me the truth, Alex, does it even vaguely affect you, to know that you displeased me?"

Alex grimaced, then nodded. "It bothers the fuck outta me. But I don't know whether it's because I'm getting my ass beat, or. . . ."

Gabriel looked out the balcony window. "I see."

There came a pause, then: "How many lashes, tonight?" Alex's voice was dull.

Gabriel draped the belt over Alex's shoulder, well aware of the surrender within the question. "Well, you still owe me for rifling my room. Plus, the offense tonight. I would say a good thirty."

Alex drew in a breath, abdomen lifting, spine straightening. He swallowed hard and hugged himself.

Gabriel added, ". . . I will cut that in half, if you kneel."

Pain crossed Alex's face. He glanced up at Gabriel. He stared down at the bed. Very quietly he answered: "I'm not your sub, Gabriel. And I'm not an angel, either. If I kneel, it won't be in obedience or submission. So you won't be satisfied."

Gabriel took a deep breath. "Thank you for your frankness."

Alex drew in on himself. "Thirty will kill me, though, after what I just went through."

"I know. You are still not completely well. So we will do them five per night, for six nights. If you change your mind after the third night? We'll call it even."

Alex nodded. "Let's do six, for five nights."

"We will do five. For six nights. I have more experience than you."

"I just want to get it over with."

"Trust me, Alex."

Alex leaned his forehead against the mattress, making a soft sound. "How do I fix this, Gabriel?" His voice was miserable. "We were so comfy. Cuddling, and healing. You were actually being decent to me, and I was . . . we were. . . . Now it's fucked up."

Gabriel exhaled, almost a sigh.

". . . Now you're gonna be an asshole again, and all I can see in my future is more suffering. I can't deal with that. I just can't deal."

Then Gabriel did sigh, a heavy sound, and came to stand over Alex. "Why did you try to cuff me, Alex? Be honest."

Alex tilted his head, so he could see Gabriel out of the corner of his eye. "You were gonna cuff me."

"Correct."

"Fair is fair." The answer was quiet.

"It boils down to control, Alex. I was going to take your power, so you tried to take it back. Is that not so?"

Alex winced and closed his eyes.

"Do you understand that _all_ of this is about control? Our entire encounter, Alex?"

Alex hesitated, then nodded.

Gabriel placed a hand on Alex's back. The skin was warm, but to his surprise, it flinched slightly at his touch. "Do you understand, Alex, that I am in control of everyone here in this Aerie?"

"Yes," the boy whispered.

"Do you know what I do, to those who do not submit?" Slowly Gabriel lowered himself and crouched around Alex's form.

Alex cringed away, but found himself trapped against the bed. "Don't, Gabriel."

Gabriel rested his chin on Alex's shoulder. "You told me, a long time ago, that you would do as I said. Back when I linked with you. Back when I broke your spirit, you said you'd obey. I am still waiting for your obedience, Alex. I have not forced it, because forced submission is not the same as true submission. My Brother reminded me of that."

Alex sucked his ribs in as Gabriel's arm slid around his belly.

"My own people," Gabriel whispered, "if they fought me the way you do? Do you know what I would do?"

"Kill them," whispered Alex.

"No, not the first and second time. Well-trained soldiers are valuable." Gabriel nestled close, breathing the words into Alex's ear: "First, physical discipline. I would beat, whip, or otherwise hurt them. Establish upon their minds that mine is a hard, unyielding control. Any deviation from obedience results in pain."

Alex nodded slightly.

"Second, if that lesson does not take hold, or if they really screw up? Reprogramming. With or without disciplinary mounting."

Alex shuddered at the term.

Gabriel trailed a slow finger down his thigh. "That last is where I mount them, Alex. Repeatedly and forcefully. Until they understand who their master is. Brutal and primal, yes, but it makes the point in a way no other correction can." He slid himself silkenly against the boy's skin, pressing his abdomen against that shrinking tailbone. He was hardening as he spoke, envisioning the act and projecting it as well: Alex writhing beneath him, gasping at being pinned, crying out at the sudden weight on top of him. Pushing into him. Claiming him, hard, cock plunging in.

"Don't!" barked Alex. With a sudden jerk, he was clawing up the mattress.

"Don't do that." Gabriel's claws were better than the boy's were. He used them gently, but firmly, to correct the human, tug him back, pull him once more between the Archangel's legs, where he gripped the boy.

Alex gave a ragged gasp as skin and muscle tore. Blood beaded and trickled down his back, but Gabriel wiped it away.

"Shh. That is what I _could_ do," Gabriel breathed. "But have I done it? No." He slipped his hand lower to clasp the human's organ. It was soft, not even semi-aroused, flaccid against the harsh possibility of Gabriel's cruel, imposed Dominance.

"Let me go." Alex was sucking air in shallow, shivering breaths.

Gabriel began to stroke. Alex caught his breath, shifting away from it, but had nowhere to go. He made a low sound in his throat.

"I can find no way to impress upon you," Gabriel whispered, "that I am the Alpha, here."

"I'm not one of your subordinates!" Alex gasped. "Let me go!"

"No . . . you are not." Gabriel stopped stroking, but held on, squeezing gently until Alex was semi-erect. He kissed Alex's neck, holding him tight against his body. "But you are very much under my control. You have been for weeks. I don't know why you fight it."

Alex went still. To Gabriel's surprise, he pressed against him, not away. For a long time, there was only breathing: the steady rhythm, the energy flow between them, the pulse of blood just a little too fast. His buttocks fit perfectly into the curve of Gabriel's thighs, as they knelt on the floor.

"'I'll do as you say,'" Alex whispered finally. "That's what I said. It wasn't a submission. I'm not . . . I . . . don't . . . want your collar."

Gabriel began to stroke the boy's belly very lightly. "No one said anything about a collar." He kept hold of Alex's penis, but it was a light grip. "Michael holds that, and I am not about to wrestle Brother for it."

Within his arms, Alex partly relaxed. He took a breath, ribs expanding against Gabriel's body. "Good. Because . . . there's no way in hell I could . . . I mean, I just . . . can't."

Gabriel gave a sad smile. "It took me hundreds of years to take mine off, Alex. I understand."

Alex made a pinched sound in his throat. "I don't want to take it off." Through their link, he whispered: _I love Michael._

Gabriel winced. Then he answered: _It is hard not to love Michael. That is what Michael does. He is 'matters of the heart.' Fire, combat, passion._

_And what are you?_

Gabriel hesitated. ' _Matters of reproduction.' Water, strength, emotion, fluidness._

_Who says?_

_Various and sundry metaphysical systems, over the last few thousand years._ Gabriel shifted. _The names and gender assignments change, our companions change, but Michael and I remain pretty much standard. Twins, eternally paired. Yin and yang._ He kissed the back of Alex's neck. _You will never have one of us, without the other, Alex._

Alex lowered his head. He slumped back over the bed, easing himself once more into a kneel. _The other half of Michael._

_Mm. Very much so._

"If you had put it that way from the start," Alex whispered out loud, "you would have found me much more willing."

"Yes?"

Alex pushed into Gabriel's hand, which was still around his organ. "You're the _other half_ of him. Hell, I'd be willing, now, if you can promise not to hurt me."

"I still can't mount you, little fool. You need to heal." Gabriel pressed against him, slipping his erection once more between the boy's thighs. "Tempting as it is."

"Man I am so sick of healing." Alex pushed back against it, closing his eyes. _Mount me like you do, your angels. The ones who disobey. Only without the forceful penetration._

Gabriel took a deep breath. _You are flirting with danger, naughty monkey._

_I want to feel it._ Alex shivered, stretching out against him.

Gabriel glided his fingers across Alex's skin, giving just the tiniest hint of claw. "You will obey me," he whispered, and let the Presence flow through him. He opened his wings, casting shadow over the creature beneath him, trapped against the bed. _Oh, lord, this is going to be_ very _hard. Are you absolutely sure?_

His cock twitched as he spoke.

_Correct me,_ breathed Alex, and Gabriel had a flash of Noma, splayed on the bed beneath him, begging to be punished. He gave a bitter smile. Ah, the dark hunger touched them all, from time to time.

"Careful, careful," he whispered, nipping at Alex's neck. "You know not of what you summon."

"Just do it without the penetration."

"Near to impossible." Gabriel rocked his hips, gliding himself between Alex's thighs. He reached out, digging for the ordinary lube in the table.

"Do it as far as you can stand it," Alex pleaded. "I want to feel it."

Gabriel licked his lips, marvelling at this. "You want to feel my power," he concluded. "Not my cock."

"I'd even take the cock, if you can do that careful."

"Heh. Not bloody likely." Gabriel began smearing himself with lube. Oh, god, that was glorious! Having been denied release earlier, he was primed for it. "Turn around and prepare me. Now."

Alex did so, a bit rattled by the command. Gabriel pushed into his hand, eager for the tug of those willing fingers, that eager palm. At one point he closed Alex's grip around his shaft and thrust into it, grunting as he did.

Alex took this with aplomb, considering that Gabriel had him pinned up against the mattress and was sliding barely-sheathed feathers against his hip.

Gabriel lifted his wings again, eyes fixed on the human whose expression was becoming more and more awed as his lust and Presence grew. Gabriel was laying it on thick—no need to hold it back—and it was obviously reaching deep into the unshielded human's mind.

"Turn," growled Gabriel. "Up against the bed."

Alex did turn, but his body was shaking. Gabriel reached into his mind, just to check. The human's consciousness was a swarm of uncertainty and awe, bright-burning fear and deep-simmering reverence. But below that, he did want this. He wanted to know what it was like, for an angel to obey.

Gently Gabriel slipped his arms around Alex's mind-form, his spirit. Alex nestled close, glad to have the reassurance. _Don't break me,_ he begged.

_Don't fight,_ Gabriel replied. He glided his claws down Alex's back, leaving more thin trails of blood.

Alex sucked in a shuddering breath.

"That feeling you have right now?" Gabriel breathed into his ear. "That feeling, like you would do anything I say, no matter what it might be?"

Alex nodded.

"Multiply that by a thousand. And that is what it is, to be commanded by Father."

Alex grabbed hold of one of Gabriel's wings, as if to pull that concept closer. Hastily Gabriel sheathed the blades, but not fast enough—they caught the edge of Alex's palm. The human hissed and let go.

Gabriel let the Presence subside. He kissed Alex's palm, tasting the blood. "Enough," he whispered. "Enough for now. We will move to the corporeal stage."

Alex made a quiet, disappointed sound.

"More, later." Gabriel kissed his palm again and released him. "Soon."

The human took a deep breath, head lowering, eyes closing. "You fill them with this, _before_ you ever punish them? Or beat them? Or . . . anything else?"

"Yes," Gabriel murmured. "I fill them with this as often as I can. That's what the Presence is for."

"To make them want to fall to their knees and obey you."

"Essentially, yes. Well, that, and for scaring the piss out of wayward shepherds."

Alex snickered.

"Unfortunately, some do develop a resistance to it. Thus, the beating." Gabriel stood and swung the belt, measuring the distance. "Which is our next step."

Alex groaned.

"Disobedience must be answered with punishment," Gabriel lectured him. "Five strokes with the belt, tonight."

Alex swallowed hard and braced himself.

That muscular behind was so lovely, but not made for spankings. It was too lean. There was nothing for that now, however.

"Ready?"

Before Alex could answer, Gabriel drew the belt high and snapped it down across his rear. He spared no effort; this was a full-strength, damage-causing blow.

Alex made a sharp, suddenly-muffled sound. He grabbed a pillow from the bed and bit down on it.

Gabriel took no pity on him. "Count for me, Alex. I want to hear it."

"One," croaked the human from within the pillow.

The second blow was just as hard, cracking across the boy's flesh. Alex hissed and arched, then managed a weak, "Two!"

Gabriel was good at this, very good at this. He knew exactly how to lay marks where he wanted, for just about the amount of bruising he preferred. "Remember these are for going through my things without asking," he reminded the boy calmly.

Alex nodded, clutching his pillow, toes curled tightly in.

"I do expect you to ask permission, next time." Gabriel snapped it down a third time.

Alex arched, buttocks tightening. They were red from the first two blows, the marks already starting to darken. "Three," he whimpered.

Gabriel paused to run his hand across the marks. Alex pushed away as if that hurt.

"Q-question?" came the boy's ragged pant.

"You may speak." Gabriel patted his hip and stepped back for the final two.

"Do safe words apply to punishment?"

"Mm. Not usually. But you are human, so I might make an exception."

"Just wanted to know." Alex pressed his face into the pillow again.

"Don't suffocate yourself." Gabriel lifted the belt for the final two strikes. "Part your legs."

Alex shuddered. He whispered, "You told me not to, before. My balls."

"Trust me, boy."

Alex gave another shudder. It took him several seconds, but he did open his legs. Gabriel smiled, pleased. He folded the belt on itself and stepped closer.

Alex arched, a tremor going through him, as Gabriel leaned over. His thighs were tight, goosebumps rising all along the skin.

"Good boy." Gabriel aimed carefully, then smacked hard against his inner thigh. The blow landed near, but definitely not across, the scrotum.

Alex recoiled and caught his breath. "F-four!" he yelped. "God, Gabriel, please don't—"

"Quiet." Gabriel aimed for the other thigh. "Did I tell you to trust me?"

"Yes."

"And did you?"

Alex covered his head with the pillow.

Gabriel delivered the final blow less than an inch from his balls.

Alex cried out, then gave a moan of relief. "Five!"

Afterward, Gabriel stood over him, gliding light fingers down the muscle of his shoulder. "Still want to do all thirty at once, boy?"

"N-no." Alex leaned against him, and to Gabriel's surprise, turned to press his lips to Gabriel's hip.

Gabriel lowered the belt, using it to stroke Alex's body soothingly. "There's a good boy," he murmured. "Not so bad, hm? Not so bad."

Alex slipped an arm around Gabriel's waist, and Gabriel let the belt fall.

"We're not done, yet," Gabriel reminded him. "If this is aftercare you're looking for." All the same, he slid his palm across Alex's cheek, let it glide down his straining neck and shoulder.

Alex didn't answer. He pressed his cheek to Gabriel's hipbone, that was all. Gabriel let him stay like that. They made an odd pair: the lean, muscular human bent against the powerfully-built angel with his wings extended, one draped across that aching form.

Alex's eyes were closed. Gabriel let out a breath and allowed himself to pet those golden curls. Immediately those blue eyes opened, canting up toward him in wonder.

Gabriel looked down into those eyes, still petting. He sighed. "The truth is, boy, we both have to 'fix this.' I let you get too close. Let my guard down. You took liberties. Now I don't trust you again, and it's mutual."

A pained look crossed Alex's face. "I won't do it again."

"I know you won't, because I won't give opportunity."

"What about my trust?" murmured Alex. "You just hurt me. Again."

"No, I didn't," whispered Gabriel. "Normally when an angel betrays my trust the way you did, I would tear him open wing to hip. I barely scratched you."

"And the mounting part. You didn't even finish that."

"Because I don't feel like raping you until you scream submission." Gabriel grimaced. "Brother wouldn't like it."

"But you would?"

Gabriel looked down at him again, keeping his face expressionless.

"You would?" asked Alex again. "If left to your own preference, you would rape me, repeatedly, until I screamed?"

Then Gabriel gave a half-smile, and chucked him under the chin. "Maybe a few weeks ago. I've grown familiar with you."

"'Familiar,'" snorted Alex.

"Don't push it, Alex." Gabriel gazed out the balcony windows again. The sun was coming up, off to the east, and the sky was beginning to look as bruised as the boy's rear.

Alex pushed back from him, sitting on his knees beside him in the floor. He slumped over, resting his palms on his thighs. There was silence between them for a time.

Gabriel watched the eery predawn light creep over him. Alex's skin was pale, his expression drawn. He was in pain—again, or perhaps "still"—but sitting quietly. His cheeks bore faint marks where he had shed tears, earlier. Gabriel wondered about that. Had it been because of their argument? Or simply at the memory of Michael?

He raised his gaze back to the mountains outside. Whatever the cause, it had passed.

"Has it even occurred to you," Alex spoke up finally, "that I've been kneeling in the floor, not against the bed, for about fifteen minutes?"

Gabriel did not look down. He gave a long pause, then answered quietly: "Yes." His hand went back to stroking those golden curls.

Alex exhaled. It sounded like relief. He straightened his back again—a subtle move, but Gabriel noticed. It was a move of pride, of showing off one's position.

Gabriel licked his lips carefully, then spoke: "You will receive fifteen lashes total, as we agreed."

Alex took a deep breath. Then quietly he answered: "Thank you."

"You will not attempt to put me in a submissive position again."

Alex cleared his throat, then murmured: "Alright."

Gabriel's thumb paused on the boy's forehead. In a low voice he concluded: "And when you are kneeling to me, Alex Lannon, I will accept no less than, 'Sir.' Are we clear?"

Alex's breath caught. "You're making this hard."

"Am I? Would you _half-_ respect a superior officer, like this?"

Alex made a strained sound. He looked at the floor. He squirmed beneath Gabriel's hand.

Gabriel kept still, in a way only angels can: perfectly motionless, only breathing with his body's needs. He watched the sun rise, allowing the boy to suffer through his choice.

At last, Alex gave a very quiet: "I should . . . I should stand up."

Gabriel let his hand fall, disappointment curling cold within him. He stepped forward, offering a rejecting back and silence to the boy. Hastily he put up walls within himself, blocking as much emotion as he could. That did not stop it all, but blotted out much of the pain.

So close. So goddamned close.

"Go back to Noma, then," Gabriel dismissed him. He pulled his wings in tightly, biting his lip. "I've had my fill of you, tonight."  
  
---


	10. The Un-Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated PG-13 for fluff. M/M nudity - there is one reference to the word "cock."
> 
> Gabriel and Alex make up. Because I can't write anything else tonight.
> 
> Random Quote:
>
>> Gabriel chanced a glance over his shoulder. Alex was standing beside the bed, tugging at one of the covers with the oddest look on his face. It was a sort of anxious woe, as if he wanted something very badly but was certain he was not about to get it—or worse, that he would get it, but would pay an exorbitant, unholy price.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was supposed to be a big fight and a submission scene and... yeah. I can't write that shit tonight. This is the make up scene after Gabriel spanks Alex, and I added on more "happy" to it. It promotes their relationship a bit faster than I was going to allow, but... not too much. I just can't write or edit more sad, with the news that they've canceled Dominion. And Gabe-Muse is lonely, anyway, so he could really use the love.
> 
> No, it's not my best work, but it satisfies me emotionally, and hopefully you too, O Unknown Readers.
> 
> * * *
> 
> As far as the future of this work, or related works, I had been planning to work through Season 2 episode by episode, maybe explore the tale from the perspective of Gabriel with Alex-as-lover. I might still do that, I'm not sure.
> 
> Once that was done, I was going to slip into the Season 2-Season 3 gap and write forward, talking about things the series had not done yet. I don't know if I'll do that, either. I know there's at least one topic that I absolutely have to wrap up neatly, because FightingForms will spank me if I don't. <3
> 
> More than anything this fic needs to be chopped and rewritten and reworked into an original fic. That's still a long way down the road, but eventually it will happen.
> 
> Conclusion: I'm just not sure. Readers? What would YOU like to see happen here? Season 2? Season 3? Fuckit, let's go nuts with original? More Gabriel-Alex relationship? more adventure? more outside-world stuff? more sex? more Michael? more Noma? ... More talking fox narrator wandering through?

**Chapter 26**

A moment after he dismissed the boy, Gabriel felt a clench in his stomach, like nausea. For a second he thought he, himself, might be sick, then realized it was radiating through their link. He lifted his chin, brow wrinkling as the feeling gradually dissipated.

Alex cleared his throat twice before he could speak. When he did, his voice was artificially casual: "No. You know? Might as well stay here. Noma's pissed at me. And it's been such a long day. We could both use some sleep."

Gabriel's brow quirked. Had the boy just refused a direct command? Which Gabriel had given because he had . . . refused a direct command? He took a deep breath and covered his face.

This was too hard. Literally, simply just . . . too hard. Of all the pets he'd had across the ages, Alex took the award for most unrewarding, vexing, and confounding.

Gabriel chanced a glance over his shoulder. Alex was standing beside the bed, tugging at one of the covers with the oddest look on his face. It was a sort of anxious woe, as if he wanted something very badly but was certain he was not about to get it—or worse, that he would get it, but would pay an exorbitant, unholy price.

Gabriel advanced on him slowly. Alex flipped the pillows back in place, tugged at the blankets and covers—anything but look him in the eye. Finally, as the Archangel stood over him, he ran out of things to do. Alex gathered himself, lifted his chin, and faced him.

"So you gonna hit me, or what?" he demanded.

"If you were an angel? Absolutely. You have disobeyed."

"Yeah, pity that 'free will' thing, huh."

"Don't be obstreperous." Gabriel crossed his arms. "Do you want this to be another fight, Alex?"

Alex's jaw tightened. Then he took a step back, defusing the tension. "No. Had enough of that, tonight. I'm fucking exhausted."

Gabriel gave him orders: "Go to the shower, rinse off your back, dry yourself, and return. I do not want blood on the covers."

Alex nodded and went without a word. Gabriel took the opportunity to clean the lube off himself, right things in the bedside table, and pretend he had this bizarre situation well-in-hand.

When Alex returned, Gabriel inspected him, then nodded and pointed to the bed.

"Lie down." He climbed in, pulling some covers over himself.

Alex made an audible sound of relief. He slipped in beside Gabriel and laid there quietly, as if waiting for further instructions.

That gave Gabriel heart. The boy did appear to be _obeying_ , just . . . not the one command, to leave. He relaxed, realizing he had the upper hand. So Gabriel made him lie there. He turned away from the boy, evoking a tiny sound of disappointment. The sound made him smile.

Alex inched up against him in the bed. It could be that he craved healing, or aftercare, or perhaps just a hug. Gabriel gave him a ten-count, then inquired, "Is there something you need, boy?"

There was shame in Alex's voice, now. "Am I . . . is there . . . ?"

Gabriel stretched his wings, giving a yawn. "What is it?"

"Gabriel." Alex sounded frustrated.

"If you want something you should ask for it. With a proper 'please.'"

"You're doing this to torture me."

"I'm doing this to train you," Gabriel replied.

"Train me as _what_?"

"As a proper pet."

"Gabriel!"

Gabriel folded his wings in. "Goodnight, Alex."

_"Gabriel!"_ There was outrage, now. "You'll deny me healing just for some fucking game?"

That made Gabriel sit up. "Call it what you will, Alex, but I do not consider D/s, Dominance and submission, to be any sort of a game."

In the dimness, Alex's hand went to his own throat. "Neither do I," he whispered. "But I'm not your goddamned pet."

"Then whose are you?"

"I'm _nobody's_ goddamned pet!" Alex's voice was fierce.

Gabriel eyed him. "Mm. You'd best tell Brother that."

Alex's voice broke, then: "Gabriel, please!"

"You need to decide what you are, Alex. You can't obey when you want, and make your own rules. If you're going to kneel, you will do it when I want, not only when you want. And you _will_ call me Sir."

Alex covered his face. "I'd rather be an angel, and be bludgeoned and raped, than be a pet who has to kneel and call you Sir."

"Angels still have to kneel and call me 'Sir,'" Gabriel pointed out.

"Fine. Then pretend I'm an angel. Beat me, rape me, but for fucksake don't call me a pet."

There came an awkward silence.

"You do not mean that," Gabriel told him quietly.

Alex splayed over, resting his heavy head on his hands. "I'm so tired, Gabriel. If you fed me a diet of that Presence every day maybe I _would_ obey. Just don't make me into some . . . goddamn lapdog to be collared and dragged around, stuck on a pillow, eating from a bowl. Just, no!"

Gabriel thought Alex had a very hard road ahead of him. Angelic tradition would not be kind, in terms of the way humans were treated.

"Please just heal me, Gabe. Listen to me; I'm begging you. Okay? You win."

"It was not a contest." Gabriel stared into the distance. What _was_ this boy, to him? Was he a pet? A submissive? A companion? A pain in the ass? Gabriel lacked a solid answer, which meant he lacked a clear response. Hypothetically, he should punish a pet, correct but forgive a submissive, comfort a companion, and get rid of the last.

"My ass is killing me," Alex continued. "My . . . my actual guts hurt. Okay? This cut on my stomach, now my back too, because of your damn claws. Look, I'm sorry I didn't call you 'Sir.' I'm just not ready for that shit. And Michael would . . . I don't even know what Michael would do, if he heard me say it. Please, Gabe. _Please_. Just please."

Gabriel's ear was drawn to something Alex said. "It is Gabriel," he corrected softly. With a rasp, he extended his wings. "You said that you were sorry about the 'Sir.' Why?"

"Because I knew you'd be pissed off. And probably beat me more."

"So you were sorry because of its effect on you. Not its effect on me." Gabriel waved his hand dismissively. "And the cuffs? Does the same rule apply?"

Alex blinked in surprise. "Wait, what effect on you? And hell yeah, I'm sorry I tried to cuff you, are you kidding? Wish I could stop myself from that!"

"Because of the pain I caused you, as result." Gabriel's voice had grown cold.

"Well, yeah. . . ." Alex leaned forward, his eyebrows drawn quizzically together. "And because of its . . . effect on you? What effect on you?"

Gabriel favored him with a scowl.

Alex swallowed hard. "Are you fucking with me, Gabriel?" He was trying to read Gabriel's face. When that didn't work, he turned to the link.

Gabriel's eyes narrowed dangerously as he felt the gentle probe inside.

_The hell are you talking about?_ whispered Alex.

"Did you not think perhaps I might be disappointed?" Gabriel snapped. "After all the energy and time I have put into you, boy?"

Alex physically lowered his head. "Didn't think you'd care," he mumbled.

Gabriel shook his head and pushed the boy away from him in angry disgust. "Sleep over there."

"Why would you care?" Alex continued. "I'm just a human. That's what you keep telling me. Just a thing. A dog." He let himself be pushed, although it was clear that was not what he wanted. Quietly he concluded: "I'm sorry, Gabe. Gabriel. I didn't meant to hurt you. I . . . didn't know I was." He curled up on his side and closed his eyes.

Gabriel lay still, his wings partly extended, thinking the matter over. He had possibly overreacted, but he was weary. He had indeed put a great deal of effort into the boy, and had not seen a payoff—particularly a sexual one—in quite some time. He closed his eyes, exhaling in frustration.

A few minutes passed. He could feel the lonely ache coming from the boy. He was hurting, physically and otherwise. And Gabriel, himself, was not doing as well as he'd like. __

"Come here," he commanded finally.

Alex lifted his head. "Is this the part where I race to your side, tail wagging like a good boy?"

"Just come here." Irritably Gabriel waved him over.

Alex shifted into the dip of the mattress where Gabriel lay. He rested his head on Gabriel's chest and curled one arm around his stomach. Gabriel pulled the boy close, letting their warmth and energy fields overlap.

Alex went still.

"Listen to me very closely," Gabriel told him. "If I am to allow you this close to my person, I _must_ be able to trust you. Do you understand that?"

"Yes," whispered Alex.

"There can be no more fooling around. When I give you orders, I need you to obey. When I ask you not to do something, there is _always_ a reason. Do you understand this?"

"Yes."

Gabriel curled his wing around the human. He breathed: "I am going to say something to you. It is one of those things which mustn't be repeated."

Alex caught his breath. He nodded. _I'm listening._

Gabriel glided his palm down the human's back. _I have discovered something very important, tonight. I want very much to be able to trust you, Alex._

Alex slowly raised his head to gaze at Gabriel's face. He seemed stunned.

_Yes, as you can imagine, that is earth-shattering, to me. It is an honor given no Earthly creature since—._ He cut off, looking away.

Alex patted him, giving a flash of himself as Gabriel's son.

Gabriel nodded. _The fact that you lie in this bed after tricking and disobeying me? Is nearly unthinkable. So consider that, for a moment._

_It's just my sexy tats,_ Alex whispered, trying to make light of it. But there was still wonder behind the offhand joke.

_If I am going to keep you this close to me, I must be able to trust you completely. Do you understand that, Alex?_

_I do,_ Alex murmured. . . . _And you want to._

Gabriel gazed at him, torn for a moment, as if he had said too much.

Alex continued: . . . _Not only trust me, but keep me close. Really close._ Alex smoothed the feathers of Gabriel's wing, looking away from his eyes, suddenly, as if sensing that things had grown too intense.

_It . . . could be handy for awhile,_ Gabriel replied awkwardly.

Alex chuckled out loud. "You just like my tats. Admit it."

"It's your little pink cock," Gabriel sniffed.

"Hey! What are you calling 'little?'"

Gabriel kissed his forehead, then, eyes going soft and half-lidded. "Lie with me," he murmured. "Lie on my belly, and let me heal you. Will you guard me, as I rest?"

Alex was taken aback by the question. "Will _I_ guard _you_? Think you've got that backwards."

Gabriel looked seriously into his eyes. "We must guard one another. Is this not a tradition amongst your kind?"

"Oh, well, yeah. You mean trade off watch during the night."

"Yes, but also a more informal way: to protect one another, whilst sleeping side by side."

Alex nestled against his chest. The healing was already starting to stream through him, soothing his body-aches. "Yeah, I can do that."

Gabriel took a deep breath, letting tension trickle away. "Be very careful the way you handle me, Alex. I don't take kindly to being teased and tricked."

"Lesson learned," whispered Alex. "I'd much rather have your trust, and be able to lie here against your skin."

"Good boy," breathed Gabriel.

"I just . . . had no idea you'd rather hold me."

"Neither did I," Gabriel admitted. "It's quite something, isn't it?"

"Kinda like it."

"Don't get uppity about it."

Then Alex grinned, a cheeky but surprisingly affectionate expression. He bent and nuzzled the wing at the base, getting a faceful of down.

Gabriel huffed, wing twitching beneath the assault. He shifted, trying to escape, but Alex's weight held him in place. "What are you _doing_?" he demanded.

"Yeah," Alex chortled. He pulled some feather-down off his unshaven chin. "Michael's ticklish there, too."  
  
---


	11. The Un-Make-Up Scene :P

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated R for M/M sexual suggestiveness
> 
> Gabriel and Alex argue and un-make-up so they can fill in some character development I need before Michael arrives. Oh, and the fight that got delayed from a couple chapters ago, finally happens.
>
>> Happy Random Quote:  
>  _The hell is your deal?_ Alex demanded. _You know, for a second there, I thought you really wanted to be with me. That's my bad, I guess._
>> 
>> _Your "bad" indeed,_ Gabriel retorted. _What does that saying even_ mean _? It lacks a noun._ He stepped into the shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting this. I've got a huge chunk of "stuff that has to happen before Michael gets here." Heh. So I'm trying to arrange it and cram it all in. Also, really depressed and finding it hard to concentrate.

**Chapter 27**

So the boy was his.

Except not . . . actually. Not in any way that truly mattered. Not by any tangible measure, truth, or logical reasoning, that is.

Gabriel turned on his back, staring up at the dark-beamed ceiling. No. Only by way of some gauzy agreement they could "trust" one another, like suckling lambs. That, and the timelessly binding accord great warrior-lovers had shared through the ages: to sleep safely, snared in one another's grasp.

. . . Was he mad? How truly fucking tired had he _been_? Such whispers were for honorable angels—indeed, for Archangels, for his Brother, for Michael. With strong arms locked about him and their hearts entwined. Not for . . . not for. . . . He envisioned this poor creature he had battered, now coiled beside him. What had he been _thinking_?

Gabriel's eyes slid to the early-evening windows. The world beyond his balcony was stark: vivid crimson sliced to raw, black chunks; granite edges cut in harsh, sharp ridges. The world within arm's reach was warmer, softer: a slow-stirring pool of mellow gold and peach within mild, contrasting blues. The boy lay curled on his side, drawing ripples across the surface in slow, easy breaths. Gabriel laid a light palm on his hip, and the boy pressed closer, not away.

Yes, indeed. Absolutely barking mad. They both were; the boy obviously wanted this, as well.

Oh, Brother would be so unbelievably angry. There was no telling what he'd do. Sharing was one thing, yes, but bonding with the boy . . . well, that was tantamount to _taking_ him. And Brother did not allow his toys to be taken. No, no—he and Michael had had a few spats over _that_ one! From pretty boys in Greece to that lovely jazz temptress from Memphis. He could not remember her name but dear god, he would never forget Brother's face when he had taken her.

Always with the toys, and who owned what.

Well, Gabriel, now . . . wait. He had been wrong before. He had thought the boy "his" when he had conquered and deep-linked, but that possession never came to fruition. Alex had proven himself independent and unexpectedly fierce. Or perhaps that was backwards: Gabriel had proven himself unwilling to force what should have been . . . a natural submission, for lack of better term.

Gabriel stroked him now, admiring that sigil-marked skin. Such a lovely creature, like those polished, dear boys of ancient Greece. He had watched them perform acrobatics and music, night after night, in the perfumed, balmy air. They had been so much more willing than Brother's blasted brat.

He rolled away from the boy, staring into the yawning mouth of the bathroom. No, Gabriel. This morning . . . surely meant nothing. The boy had been exhausted. He had simply wanted rest, and escape from the ache of both beating and wound. He would say anything, just to be given comfort and healing.

"Cut it out," breathed Alex, without moving. "Your worry is keeping me awake."

Damn. "I was not thinking that loudly."

"Ya-huh." Alex yawned and stretched, his lithe body uncurling and pressing against his.

For a moment, Gabriel was keenly aware of the human's body close against his back: scruffy face buried at the top of his wings, lazy arm curling about his waist, hard pelvis tight against his buttocks, strong legs trying to entangle his. It was at once unsettling and . . . oddly comforting, like the echo of something that used to bring him peace.

"What was I worrying about, then?"

"Mmh." Alex's sleepy voice was muffled by feathers. "How I would say anything."

Gabriel scowled. Suspicion slipped through him in cold, hard pieces. He rolled onto his back, pushing Alex away in the process. "How long have you been able to eavesdrop on my thoughts, boy?"

"Awhile." Alex rubbed at his eyes and opened them, little miniature pools of blue amongst the blankets. "Mostly when you start . . . what's the word? Sermonizing."

Gabriel blinked. "That's . . . not the word you're after."

"Yeah. Like blah blah blah, I am so awesome, I am Gabriel. Look at this, it is the shit. Because I am Gabriel."

"That is . . . I definitely do _not_ do that."

Alex gave a grin, showing straight white teeth. "You definitely do. I don't know exactly _what_ you were sermonizing a few minutes ago but it involved naked guys and handstands."

"Greece," murmured Gabriel, taken aback. He peered at Alex, troubled. How was Alex getting into his mind? Even with their existing link, an Archangel's mind should never be so transparent—plus, Gabriel had not been reaching out.

Even worse for a mere pet to see so deeply, have unfettered access. That was shameful.

Alex lifted himself on his arms. He peered down into Gabriel's eyes with a thoughtful expression. "You know? If you'd worry less about what kind of _pet_ I am, I'd like you a lot more."

"You're human," Gabriel replied automatically.

"Yeah?" Alex slid across Gabriel's belly, lining up their bodies and revealing that sleep had left him with untapped potential. He nestled close, settling his groin against Gabriel's with a saucy smirk. "So that makes me automatically a pet. No matter what. Yeah?"

Gabriel pulled in a slow breath, feeling the boy's firm warmth call his own to attendance. Gradually his fingers slid down Alex's back, tracing claw-marks from the night before. "I think you need training," he purred, letting the idea warm him inside. Seeing the boy stretched out cuffed, or kneeling, listening to his commands. Ohh, yes. That would be delightful. "You're not very submissive to me." He cupped Alex's cheek in his palm.

"What if I don't wanna be, to you?" Alex rubbed his cheek against the offered hand.

"What if you _have_ to be?" breathed Gabriel. "I give you no choice."

"You know that isn't gonna fly." Alex kissed his palm, staring straight into his eyes. "How long we been doing this?"

Gabriel tilted his head quizzically. Did the boy not understand? "I've been too lenient with you," he concluded. "I must simply be harder."

Alex grimaced. "That's really not the conclusion I hoped for."

"You submitted for Michael. You will submit for me."

Alex looked pained. "Gabriel. . . ." He sighed. "Can't we just . . . play it fast and loose for awhile? Drop the whole D/s thing, and see what happens?"

"Why, so you can pretend we are equal, then be crushed when I insist on Dominance later? We should keep it clear from the start."

Alex looked away. "Maybe I don't wanna sub right now. Just play."

Gabriel chuckled. "I can let you play, Alex."

Alex laughed. "Yeah. As a sub, right?"

Frustration came in a hot wave. Now the boy was laughing at him. Gabriel reached up and pushed Alex away. "No, boy, I cannot 'drop the D/s thing.' It is who I am. I can give you leeway, yes, to play. That is the best I can offer."

Alex stayed where Gabriel put him, looking stunned. "I can't figure you out, Gabriel."

"Neither can I." Gabriel rolled off the bed and headed for the shower. __

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Gabriel stared at himself in the mirror. _I should not get attached to a damned monkey, anyway._

_I heard that!_ came Alex's mental squawk. __

_Then get over yourself._ Gabriel ran the shower, letting it heat up.

_The hell is your deal?_ Alex demanded. _You know, for a second there, I thought you really wanted to be with me. That's my bad, I guess._

_Your "bad" indeed,_ Gabriel retorted. _What does that saying even_ mean _? It lacks a noun._ He stepped into the shower.

Alex's bare feet padded into the bathroom. "So it's settled, you don't actually want to be with me. You were just screwing around last night and lying."

Gabriel stiffened. "I do not lie."

"Then last night you were . . . confused? high? stupid?"

"Alex," Gabriel growled. "I will punish, if you continue."

"You changed your mind, then," Alex concluded. "Nice to know. . . . Asshole." He left, slamming the bathroom door behind him.

"And back to name-calling." Gabriel washed himself quickly. His temper was rising rapidly, but he took deep breaths to try to contain it.

The boy had just called him a liar. And stupid. Where was the respect? This was exactly his problem with Alex.

"I am going to beat you," he called, "unless you kneel to me."

"So beat me, asshole!" Alex returned. "I'll be damned before I kneel to you."

"That can be arranged!" he shouted. "Do you forget I am an Archangel?" He turned off the shower.

"Oh no," shot back Alex through the door. "How could I ever forget you're the fucking greatest fucking Archangel who ever fucking pissed on Earth?"

Mm, pissed. Yes. Gabriel took care of that before he opened the door for more argument. "You will show me proper respect!" he declared. "Nothing but a measly, puling little beast!"

Alex was sitting on the bed, still naked, for there was nothing for him to wear. When Gabriel entered, Alex's back stiffened. "What do you want me to say?" he demanded. "Mister Super Angel? I've got nothing. I'm trapped here."

Gabriel frowned. "If you hate my bed so much, we can arrange for a cell."

Alex's light blue eyes flashed. "Maybe I should. You're damnsure not reading my markings."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Alex jumped up. "If your Father saw the shit you're doing to me, he'd really have something to say!"

Outrage swept across him. "You have no _idea_ about my Father! Don't even _pretend_!"

Alex gestured down at himself. "Look at me, Gabriel! Look at the great protection I've gotten under your watch!"

Gabriel bared his teeth and stepped up in the boy's face. "Perhaps you'd best learn to protect yourself better."

"Yeah, see that's the thing." Alex tilted his head. "When it's _your_ responsibility to watch me. Gabriel." He gave a little shove to the Archangel's chest.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Oh, that was it. Time for a lesson. Gabriel grabbed him so hard and fast that Alex instinctively jerked back. "On your knees."

"Fuck!" Alex grabbed automatically at Gabriel's hand on his neck, which was sinking sharp claws into the skin.

"Down!" Gabriel shoved him to his knees—human fingernails digging, body rigid, breath panting. He sank down above the boy, using his weight and a terrifying amount of strength to bear Alex to the stones. It was rare he simply bulled a human into compliance; now he used inhuman power to teach Alex an awful lesson.

Alex hissed, then gasped. One hand tugged at Gabriel's inexorable grip. The other pushed against the floor as if trying to regain leverage.

Gabriel gave him none; he kept Alex down. "Now," the Archangel whispered. "You will apologize for what you said."

"I won't," gritted Alex.

"You will," Gabriel assured him. "Or I'll break your knees so you cannot get back up."

Alex's breath caught as Gabriel began to apply pressure. "F-fuck. Fuck! Fuck!" he cried out, as pain began to shoot through him with the increasing weight.

"You _will_ submit," whispered Gabriel. "Apologize, Alex, and I'll stop."

Alex shuddered all over. _You fucking asshole. I'm not your goddamn dog._

The mental version of Alex flung himself so hard at Gabriel, for a moment the Archangel was stunned. He truly did not know what had hit him. Then he recognized the familiar energy and felt the boy's semi-vacant body twitch beneath him.

_Dear god,_ he realized, _the boy_ is _learning._

He caught the boy's mind-form around the waist. For a moment there was vicious wrestling, as Alex fought against him, kicking and twisting to be free. This was happening all as their bodies knelt, frozen and trembling, with Gabriel pressed above Alex.

While Gabriel held on, Alex's mind-form began to fight like a wild animal. He snarled and scratched, ripping ragged valleys down both of Gabriel's arms. For a moment, Gabriel could swear the boy had claws. There was an unnatural glow as well, lending an eery golden cast to the scene.

Eventually Gabriel let him go; it was not worth holding on and accumulating the damage. He wiped blood off his torn arms in amazement while Alex circled, preparing to strike again. He had not expected such a battle. But he would never abandon one, so long as the stakes were worthy.

And fighting Alex, it seemed, was well worth the effort!

When Alex shot forward again, Gabriel swung hard to knock him off his feet. To his surprise, Alex dodged and darted at him once more. The boy had learned much from his suffering in Mind-Vega; now he used the advantage to come at Gabriel with all he could.

It was counterintuitive, but fighting calmed him, in this particular situation. It was a language he and boy both spoke, it seemed. And while they were not equals, combat was a language of clarity and equivalency. It reduced complex concepts such as "respect" and "submission" into simple terms all could understand.

In this case, Alex was telling him he did not wish to show respect, and Gabriel was replying, with much heavier strikes, that he did not much care.

Gabriel blocked blow after blow, observing the boy's technique. He had never actually had time to watch much of Alex's fighting style. Now he took notes, finding holes, learning weaknesses. The style dripped of Brother, everywhere. And he knew no one's technique better. When the boy at last rested, Gabriel extended his wings.

_Alright, Alex. You've had your say. You can stop now._

_Fuck you, Gabriel._ Alex was panting.

_Alex,_ he warned, _if we continue, when I win, I will mount you like one of my inferiors. Are you sure you want that? I've told you what the experience is like._

_If I win,_ Alex retorted, _how about I mount you?_

Gabriel laughed. _How about I give you one last chance to back down?_

Alex hesitated. It was a good offer. A very good offer.

_Alex?_ pressed Gabriel. _My anger has passed. I'd rather not make you scream, tonight._

Alex turned his face away. He took a half-step back.

That was it. Gabriel reached down, in the physical realm, and began to stroke his hair. "There," he whispered in the boy's ear. "A few blows of the belt, and we'll call it even."

Alex groaned. "No more belt, Gabriel."

"You must be punished, somehow."

Beneath him, Alex groaned quietly. "Do I still have to apologize?"  
  
---


	12. The Submission, Oral, Rape-Memory, Fingering, Un-Rape... and Gabriel Still Doesn't Come Scene_v2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated NC-17 for M/M nudity, oral sex, fingering, anal sex, and a memory of underage, group, oral-rape.  
>  Note: the actual rape-memory is clearly marked in text with a bold italic warning, if you wish to skip that particular chunk.
> 
> Alex shows an unexpected side of himself, taking Gabriel off-guard. Just when Gabriel adjusts... Alex unveils yet another surprise! Go, Alex. Gabriel learns a lot but seems determined to stick with his old ways.
>
>> Gabriel tilted his head, watching curiously as Alex moved positions. "What are you doing, Alex?"
>> 
>> "Finishing what I started."
>> 
>> "Oh, really." Gabriel sat up a little.
>> 
>> "You just . . . stay right there." Alex pointed at his face. "Don't move. Don't thrust. Don't push my head. Stay."
>> 
>> "Woof," was Gabriel's sarcastic reply. He folded his arms behind his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: v.2 - due to feedback I took out some of the responsible-Dom bit and added some more oral sex.
> 
> This is a great big piece I have been sitting on for ages. I can sit on it another 2 months and it still won't be right. So I'm posting it. If I get feedback to fix it, I can go back and fix it, right? :) Nothing's set in stone.
> 
> These chunks (other than the first) belong in Pt1. I never got a chance to put them in there, so I crammed them in here. Why? Well, Michael's coming, and I want Alex and Gabriel to understand each other on a deeper level. That way, Mike's powerful tide doesn't wrench them apart. To do that, they have to experience significant things together. If it seems out of place here, well... sorry. It kinda is. Give me an idea how to make it fit better and I'll do it :)
> 
> Very low on energy, running out of steam. But I promised to write for you guys, so I'm doing my best <3

**Chapter 28**

Gabriel exhaled. Well, that struggle was over. Nothing broken this time; a bonus! He let go of the boy. He patted him. He rewarded surrender with mercy. That was the proper way to handle it, as both Dom and combat victor.

"Your knees?" he murmured.

Alex told the stones, "M'fine."

Gabriel straightened slowly, then got to his feet. After a brief search, he pulled the dreaded belt from a shelf. He turned in time to catch a single, good glimpse of the elusive Haunted-Alex: eyes wide and empty, arms clutched about jutting ribs, body hunched as if Gabriel's weight bore still upon him on the floor.

Gabriel froze, letting the pliant leather swing from his hand. Alex was working to hide it, but this was far more than just emotion to be buried. Haunted-Alex was loss-of-control, even loss-of-self. Haunted-Alex was the conquered Alex. The beaten one.

Carefully, Gabriel gave him some room. He circled around him. He sat on the edge of the mattress and laid the belt down. In a calm voice he spoke: "Easy, Alex. Steady there."

Alex turned his head toward the sound. That was a good sign. Gabriel continued:

"You must be punished, you know. You showed tremendous disrespect."

"I know." There was a slight quaver to the boy's voice. He stayed where he was.

He knows? He agrees? Gabriel tilted his head, regarding him for several minutes. Was the boy testing him? Was this some sort of . . . exploration, to see what Gabriel actually did, in a Dominant situation?

Gabriel's eyes tracked back and forth across Alex. He did not push into his mind; he could tell there was fear and shock, which he did not want to deepen. Finally he came to a decision. In a low, rich voice like darkest velvet, he called: "Come to me." He extended one hand, open and empty.

Alex regarded him for a moment, like a lost and scared child. Gabriel did not move, and did not use his Presence for influence. He merely kept his hand out and his face calm. If the boy wanted to see him in "Dom mode," then he would give it a try.

Alex took a breath like wind hissing through weeds. Then, to his surprise, the human scooted closer. Those empty eyes were flitting across Gabriel's expression: up, back and forth, then away. He hugged himself tighter, if such a thing were possible, and hunched down again at Gabriel's feet.

Gabriel exhaled slowly. Excitement was beginning to tremble through his core. Alex was actually _responding_ to commands? Cautiously his hand made contact with those golden curls. He began to pet: a slow, soothing motion gathering up, tugging, then releasing rows of soft, tousled hair.

"Calm," he whispered.

Alex shuddered and rested his cheek on Gabriel's knee. He closed his eyes.

Something pure and fierce surged through Gabriel. His wings extended, reaching out toward the boy. Enfolding him. Shielding him. Feathers slipped across skin to caress his body. They glided over ridges of rib and skin-stretched bone. They gathered him close and held him, naked but hardly helpless, there within reach of his arms.

"Shh," Gabriel whispered. "Shh, shh." His fingers tugged through golden curls. "There's a good boy. Stay here."

Protective again. He was protective, not angry, not even stern. The boy had some magic about him, to evoke this response. Gabriel continued to stroke and shush him, bringing calm with words and touch.

Yes, the boy was kneeling. Beyond kneeling—he was down in the floor, with his head practically in Gabriel's lap.

No, Gabriel was not mistaken. There was no misinterpreting this. The position was one of weary, but unmistakable, submission. Surrender. Even childlike complaisance.

He should have been triumphant. But all he could think about was soothing the boy, petting him, bringing him peace.

"What have you done to me?" Gabriel breathed.

"Could ask the same," came Alex's broken murmur. He shivered. ". . . I can't do this."

"No?"

Alex shook his head, not moving otherwise. "Michael won't allow it."

Then Gabriel understood. There was more than just defiance and stubbornness in the boy's resistance. There was loyalty, too. Sudden sadness swept across, as he realized the stakes. "No," he agreed quietly, knowing it was so: "Michael won't allow this."

"Please just drop the D/s," Alex begged him. "Please, Gabriel. I don't know what he'll do."

Gabriel swallowed hard, stroking that crown of curls with a thumb. Regret was tight in his throat, pushed higher by a rising tide of sorrow. "I . . . cannot, Alex. Any more than you can stop being a defiant pain in the arse. It is what I am. I am Dominant. I am Master."

Then Alex sent a flash of Michael: eyebrows lowered, green eyes fixed intently on his own. Serious, so serious. So grave. "You are mine," came Michael's remembered words, focused with that keen intensity only Michael had. "You are mine, until I release you. Forever, if fate has it that way." And the click of a lock, as leather fastened around his throat.

Gabriel's hand went automatically to his own throat, remembering the clasp of long-removed leather. He swallowed hard. That was a pressure not easily released.

Alex pressed his trembling face to Gabriel's knee. "I can't," he croaked. "You know I can't. I'm his. But you still push."

Gabriel's feathers stroked the boy's naked body. "Just rest," he counseled. "Now that I know you actually want it, I will speak to Brother."

"I don't . . . I don't even know. I'm so fucking confused." Alex slipped an arm around Gabriel's leg, hugging it tightly.

Gabriel comforted him. "How long have you wanted to submit?" he murmured. He needed to know this, needed to grasp how long the boy had strained against the urge. For his own pride, for his own, inner longing.

"Part of me still doesn't," Alex whispered. "I'm all screwed up. Maybe it's just because you're . . . you know, Michael's twin. Maybe I just need a good dose of Michael, and I'll be fine. I don't know. I don't know what's wrong with me."

Gabriel frowned. That wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"Let's just . . . let's try to be equals for awhile," Alex proposed. "Can we do that?"

The word hurt, unexpectedly, like a bite from a friendly dog. Gabriel straightened. 

"Equals," he snorted. He laughed, a bitter sound that echoed from the beams. "Equals, boy! I was flying amongst the stars, gathering comet-dust on my wings, while your kind was learning what opposable thumbs are for."

"You're sermonizing again," Alex mumbled.

"I don't do 'equals' with humans," Gabriel concluded. "Try again."

Alex's voice had an edge to it, now: "Can you at least reject my ideas with less laughing?" He looked up at Gabriel for the first time. His eyes were red, as if he had shed tears, but there was no hint of moisture, now. Instead, there was a tiny flame feeding on irritation. Gabriel was oddly relieved to see it; this was familiar territory.

He came to a decision. Gazing into those eyes, Gabriel clasped his hand firmly on the back of Alex's neck. Alex winced; the cuts there were deep and fresh, from when Gabriel had gripped him in discipline. But Gabriel held him, sending healing as well as reminder of who was in charge. The dual sensations caused Alex confusion, which showed on his expression clearly. Then slowly, that settled to understanding.

Gabriel was still in charge. He controlled the pain. He controlled the healing.

He just didn't control the collar. Alex belonged to Michael.

Gabriel stared into Alex's eyes, not speaking. Alex stared back, not speaking either. They weren't exchanging thought, but on some level they were exchanging understanding. It was much like the way he and Brother communicated.

That should have frightened Gabriel, considering the circumstances. But it didn't. It was . . . familiar. And Alex seemed calm about it, as well.

"Are we clear?" the Archangel whispered at last.

"Clear," replied Alex. _But I want more. . . ._ And the notion of them in bed, as they had been the night before, trusting each other and very close. Then a flash of Alex with Gabriel's down in his mouth, having tickled him. It was sent with affection, humor. Even a little joy.

Gabriel grimaced. "Fine. A little of that, too."

Alex hesitated, then nodded. _Okay._

Gabriel nodded and sent: _Good—_

_Don't call me "boy."_

"I have to call you 'boy,'" Gabriel objected. "What else shall I call you?"

"Alex."

"Very well. Boy."

Alex frowned. But Gabriel just chuckled and cupped his cheek. "Alex."

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


It was only when Alex's muscles relaxed, when that heavy head lifted and pushed back from Gabriel's lap, that finally Gabriel's hand went to the leather beside him. The human was ready to move forward. Slowly Gabriel lifted the belt, not wanting to startle. He spoke in a low voice:

"Listen to me now, Alex. You deeply insulted me. Then you attacked me. That's worth at least twenty lashes."

Alex winced and pulled back on himself.

"No, look at me," Gabriel insisted, and waited until that blue gaze met his face. "The lashes are usually by scourge. I am willing to commute them to belt, because of what you are."

Alex caught his breath. "Look, Gabriel," he whispered, "I'm sure there are ways we can work this out. You want to punish me, fine. Let's . . . work out an alternative." He licked his lips uneasily.

Gabriel's brow rose slowly. "An alternative?"

"See. . . ." Alex's hands settled on Gabriel's knees. "I'll do anything to keep that fucking belt off my ass." He tugged on the Archangel's knees until finally Gabriel slid them wider apart. Alex took a breath, glanced up at Gabriel again, and scooted his body between.

"Alex," Gabriel warned, even as a tiny thrill tightened deep in his gut. He could see where this was going.

Sudden stubbornness rolled across the human: hard-set jaw, drawn brows, and a little frown. "Look, I know," he interrupted, "it's kinda cheating." He stared determinedly at Gabriel's thigh. "Just . . . anything but that goddamn belt." Then he leaned forward, pulling himself onto his knees.

Gabriel interceded with a firm hand and one word: "Stop."

Alex's eyes squeezed in frustration. "Do you seriously know how hard this is for me?"

Gabriel regarded him in amusement tinged with dismay. _How hard it is for_ you _?_ he thought privately, feeling himself begin to stir. He softened his tone: "Alex, I do not accept negotiations like this. It is one of my rules."

"How many fucking rules do you have?" Alex exclaimed.

"A few." Gabriel firmly pushed him back to a sitting position. "Besides, how can I train you to enjoy sex, if you associate it with punishment? Hm?"

"Train me! Who cares?"

"I care."

Then Alex glared, accusing, even demanding. "Why in fuck do you care?"

Gabriel did not have an answer for that. It was just . . . important. Important that Alex be trained properly, important that he not fear the act.

Alex rose to a higher kneeling position, placing his hands on the edge of the bed outside Gabriel's thighs. His brow was wrinkled now, as if bewilderment had moved in below those dark blond curls.

"So pain is the only way you'll punish me," he concluded bitterly.

"No," Gabriel corrected, "there are many ways to punish. I simply will not let you negotiate your own." He took Alex's hands and moved them back within his thighs, a more submissive position.

"Huh."

"And besides . . . sex is for pleasure and reward. Wouldn't you prefer it that way?" Gabriel glided his fingertips down Alex's ribs—a very light touch, as if coaxing him forward.

Alex's eyes lowered slowly, not to Gabriel's fingers, but to his groin. Again, he licked his lips, this time in anticipation.

Gabriel was visibly aroused now: shaft swollen, head blushed a deep crimson like summer plums. It was the closeness, the uncertainty of this creature . . . the sweet promise of pleasure. Gabriel reached out again, this time stroking the human's throat. Alluring, soft warm skin. He wanted so badly to play.

"So there's nothing I can do," Alex whispered, "that will lessen my punishment."

Gabriel glided his thumb lightly across the human's larynx, tracing the knot beneath the skin. "You cannot bribe me in that way, no."

"Are you _absolutely_ sure?" Very slowly, Alex's body lowered between his thighs. His curls brushed Gabriel's navel. Then Gabriel felt the most extraordinary warmth spread across the ready head of his cock. At the same time, the most delightful wet sounds began to rise.

Gabriel sucked in a breath. He leaned back on the bed, supporting himself with his arms. His legs parted themselves, sliding wider. ". . . I might think about it."

That firm, hot warmth continued, encompassing his head, plunging him into delight. Soft lips stroked and kissed him. Alex was exploring. Gabriel allowed it, enjoying the different sensations, permitting himself to relax. He leaned farther back, giving a low rumble of pleasure. He raised his face to the ceiling, eyes slipping shut.

Alex took his time, working his way down. He nibbled lightly and licked the flare. He dragged his tongue along the neck beneath to find Gabriel's most sensitive spots. He licked the shaft all the way to the base. Finally he nuzzled the shaft with a rough cheek, smiling.

"I think after this I will shave you," Gabriel murmured.

"Which do you like best?" Alex whispered.

"All of it. Keep going."

Leisurely Alex kissed and licked up one side, then slid his tongue down the underside only to kiss and lick his way up the other. Gabriel allowed himself to slump back on the mattress. He found himself gasping softly and rolling his pelvis. The human was fairly good at this. Gabriel recognized quite a bit of Brother's technique in there, as well.

_You like this?_ breathed Alex.

_Not at all,_ teased Gabriel.

Alex continued licking. He suckled and kissed the shaft, mouthing it, smiling now and then. Gabriel could feel it when the muscles tensed. The boy was enjoying his task.

_You like this,_ Gabriel observed.

_You're making the greatest sounds right now._

Gabriel hadn't realized he was. Embarrassed, he quieted himself.

_Don't stop,_ Alex pleaded. _Love to hear it._

_Keep going,_ Gabriel urged him. The pleasure arising from this was fantastic. It was not just the physical joy of the act, but the realization that the boy's pure attention was focused completely on pleasing him. Gabriel allowed himself to drift in it, smiling, indulging himself.

Alex moved his attentions back to the head. He began lapping at it and circling around, making delicious wet sounds the whole time. His tongue curled about the flare, sliding along from base to tip. At last, he moved to the slit, dragging his tongue across and kissing hard.

Gabriel made a soft groan of need, pushing upward. "Boy," he groaned, "you're going to find yourself mounted."

Alex pulled back, all swollen-lipped and flushed. "Not on the floor, I'm not."

Gabriel grudgingly slid backward on the mattress. He grabbed some ointment as he did—a healing mixture he'd obtained earlier, designed to soothe the marks of a belt. It was coincidentally quite slick and gooey. Alex clambered up, fully erect, skin touched with pink and eyes eager. Gabriel took a moment to capture his cheek in one palm.

_Excited for me,_ he observed with pleasure.

_Just excited, period,_ Alex responded coolly. _You could just as easily be my palm._

Gabriel clucked his tongue in reproval. _So crass. Don't play coy._ He laid back, partly propped up, legs parted again. _Service me._

_Service you?_ demanded Alex. _I don't—_

Gabriel buried his fingers in a handful of curls. He pushed Alex's head down between his thighs. "Behave yourself, and we'll talk about no belt. Remember this was your idea in the first place."

Beneath his hand, Alex jerked sharply. Gabriel frowned. Instinctively his hand tightened, and Alex hissed. Something inside him whispered caution.

So he let go.

Alex backed off, taking a deep breath. He looked shaken, his eyes a bit wild, his face pale.

Gabriel watched him. "You alright?"

"Yeah," gasped Alex. "Gimme sec."

Gabriel slipped a hand down to stroke himself, unable to wait. It had been days since he'd achieved release. The touch was so wonderful, Gabriel sighed happily and pushed into it. Oh, lord, that was good. He wrapped his lubed hand around and began to thrust.

When Alex saw that, his brow wrinkled. "Don't," he complained. "I'll do it. Here." He batted Gabriel's hand away.

Gabriel returned his hand to the back of Alex's head, but this time, he transmitted an image of Michael. _Remember him,_ he urged. _Michael, your Master. Pushing himself down your throat, commanding you to swallow._

Alex gave a low groan. He shuddered and ground himself against the mattress, deep-rose arousal rubbing into blue satin. The image came to life through Alex's memory: Michael, hips hitching, hands tugging golden curls, cock buried nearly to the root. The warm, rich scent of his balls, the taste of his skin, the heat and stretch of his thickness filling, sliding, claiming his throat. It had taken weeks for Michael to train him to take it. No more choking, now—Alex was open and yielding, accepting the full length, giving everything for Michael.

Gabriel shuddered; a gasp escaped him. He arched on the bed, sharing the experience through the human's point of view. For a moment he relived it: Michael's glorious cock, Michael's guiding hands, Michael's firm command. It was almost painful, to remember it, to feel it. To miss it so badly.

Alex's hand touched his. He sent a smile through their link. _It's okay. We'll see him again._

Gabriel became embarrassed anew. _Yes,_ he murmured. _Brother has a way of resurfacing when you least expect him._

Afterward, his palm became gentle on the boy's head. "Easy, now," he whispered. His guidance became firm, not harsh. He did not push.

His cock twitched as it slid into Alex's open, exquisitely hot, moist mouth.

This time, Alex settled down quickly, as if willing to accept the guidance. His legs straddled Gabriel's calves, his hands gripped Gabriel's hips, and his mouth—oh god yes!—began once more to lick and kiss at Gabriel's swollen, needy cock.

"Good boy," Gabriel whispered. He kept the pressure on the boy's head light. Alex's breathing sped up. He began to rub himself against Gabriel's leg. There was a slight, excited and awkward shudder in the movements.

Slowly Gabriel sat up, curling his body around Alex so that he might glide one palm down the human's back. Alex gave a quiet moan around the head of Gabriel's cock.

"Take me in," Gabriel ordered. He kept his voice low.

Alex's fingers gripped him. His lips tightened around Gabriel's cock. His tongue dragged across the slit, and Gabriel's pelvis raised automatically at the jolt of pleasure. That move caused Alex to stiffen.

Lost in passion, Gabriel moaned and thrust again, pushing himself into Alex's mouth. This time Alex tried to rise, but Gabriel kept his hand where it was, holding him in place.

_Don't!_ came Alex's strained call. _Won't do it if you force me!_

The words broke through Gabriel's haze. His hand softened, allowing Alex to rise, but the human was shaken and angry. Gabriel watched him a few moments, then confessed: _The slit is sensitive. If you avoid licking it, I will keep still._

Alex frowned. _Swear to me!_ he demanded. __

Gabriel grumbled in annoyance. _Yes, I promise. I will keep my pelvis still. You big baby. I thought you said Michael trained you._

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Alex frowned at the jibe. He squinted, then raised his head completely. . . . _You ever been forced like that, Gabriel?_

Gabriel didn't answer that one. He just exclaimed, "Oh, damn it, Alex, don't _stop_!"

Alex's mouth tightened in ire. Suddenly he reached through the link, and Gabriel found himself in a dank, underground tunnel. Fluorescent lights flickered wanly in the distance between hanging pipes and rusted shutoff valves. The walls were grungy cement brick stained with tawny soil, dark body-oil, and god knows what else. Despite Gabriel's immediate repulsion, this was Alex's memory and there was an underlying sense of familiarity.

Familiarity, yes. Comfort, no. Alex raced down the corridor in cut off sweats and a hoodie two sizes too big. A group of boys howled at his heels, older boys, bigger boys. Alex was twelve or so—not old enough for military service, nor even for the muscles it would someday require. Worse yet, Alex's strange, lean friend with dark hair was nowhere to be found.

Today was a very bad day.

_**[[ ==Here begins the chunk with rape trigger warnings ==]]**_

Alex had been chased this way and trapped in a dead end, not because he was unaware, but because he'd had no choice. The boys had cut him off. To his credit, he had his knife out, and he was doing his best, but Gabriel knew where this scene was going.

_Do not show me this,_ he murmured.

_Why?_ challenged Alex. _Too much for you?_

_Unnecessary._

The older boys wrestled and beat Alex to his knees. The memory was of course from Alex's point of view, so it blurred and faded as they struck him in the head. There was very little light as they crowded around him.

_Alex!_ exclaimed Gabriel. _Enough!_

_Fuck you,_ whispered Alex. _You want to oral-rape me? You watch it._

The taste of it, the utter violation, the disgust. Even Gabriel jerked back, hissing as Alex was forced to endure the unendurable. His stomach turned.

The hard push into his mouth, the jerk past his teeth. One boy holding his nose so that he had to keep his mouth open. Another boy holding his arms. Someone shoved something into his jaws so he couldn't bite.

They took turns. They kept doing it. He lost track. There was goo all over his mouth, his lips, his chin. He tried to throw up and they kicked him.

Intensity shuddered through Alex. He was locked in the scene, reliving it, fiercely feeding it to Gabriel. His fists now gripped the covers. He was covered in sweat.

_**[[ ==Here ends the chunk with rape trigger warnings ==]]**_

"Alex," Gabriel whispered aloud. "Enough."

"Not enough," hissed Alex stubbornly. "You wanna force? You watch."

"Enough," repeated Gabriel firmly. There was only one way to bring him out of this, Gabriel suspected. He pulled back, tugging the stiff human against his body.

Alex dug fingernails into his chest, fighting to push away, but Gabriel wrapped his arms around the human and made him stay. He then closed his wings and trapped Alex there against his body.

Alex went very still as the wings closed. The memory stopped flowing. His heart was still thudding very fast, though.

"That's enough," Gabriel whispered firmly. "I know what oral rape looks like."

"Do you know what it _feels_ like?" demanded Alex breathlessly.

Gabriel hesitated. "Yes," he whispered. He shifted so that he could stroke Alex's inked back. "But do not expect me to share."

Alex went quiet again. His heart was slowing as the wings' power seeped in. Or perhaps it was the petting, who knows? "Don't ever fucking force me again."

"My act was a very long way from force, Alex." Gabriel gazed up at the ceiling. "You are oversensitive."

"The hell it was!"

"That was me responding to pleasure. Nothing more."

"Don't push my fucking head down."

"I will not." Gabriel closed his eyes. He kept his wings and arms around the boy, although he wanted so much more than this. So, so, _so_ much more than this, right now. It was torture, to hold him, and not be able to do anything more.

There was silence for a minute or so. Finally he spoke: "You have left me aching-hard and wanting, boy. That is cruel."

Alex's voice was muffled against Gabriel's chest: "Sorry."

_Sorry?_ wondered Gabriel. He continued to glide his palm down Alex's back, feeling the tight muscles slowly release. "Did you really think I was going to do that? What those boys did to you?"

"Yes," was the fierce answer.

"You are mistaken."

"You're a monster. It's exactly something you would do."

Gabriel's brow wrinkled. _Back to monster,_ he marveled. _I have devolved quite some way, with such a simple act._ He buried his face in those golden curls. "This is precisely," he murmured, "why I prefer to train pets—"

"Not your fucking pet!"

"Calm yourself, Alex." Gabriel rubbed the back of the boy's neck. "Why I train humans to associate sex with pleasure and reward. That way they do not fear it, and do not fear me when I give it."

Alex grew quiet.

"Do you see my point?"

"I guess."

"If a creature like you saw a creature such as myself—tall, muscular, nearly all-powerful, with a huge phallus and libido to match—how would you respond?"

"Terror," whispered Alex. "Followed by adoration."

Gabriel blinked, then realized Alex was talking about Brother. "Adoration, yes," he acknowledged quietly. "Well, to get past the 'terror' bit, I generally make a point of conditioning mine. Sex is for pleasure. Not punishment."

"So far your sex has only hurt me," Alex pointed out.

"But I was not punishing you. That's the point."

"Doesn't make any fucking difference." Alex wriggled on Gabriel's belly. "It still hurts." He pushed himself lower, but found himself pinned about the waist by Gabriel's wings. "Lemme go."

Gabriel lifted his wings, wondering what Alex wanted. After the difficult memory, he had expected Alex to cling to him for some time. But apparently Alex had more fire in his soul than Gabriel had given him credit for. Now he slid down Gabriel's body, hands dragging along the Archangel's smooth skin. His face had a determined cast to it.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Gabriel tilted his head, watching curiously as Alex moved positions. "What are you doing, Alex?"

"Finishing what I started."

"Oh, really." Gabriel sat up a little.

"You just . . . stay right there." Alex pointed at his face. "Don't move. Don't thrust. Don't push my head. Stay."

"Woof," was Gabriel's sarcastic reply. He folded his arms behind his head. "I've a better idea. Reverse yourself so I am looking at your rear."

"What're you going to do?" demanded Alex uneasily.

"I shan't hurt you." Gabriel held up the healing ointment like a peace offering. "This is for bruises."

Alex considered a moment, then turned around. He straddled Gabriel with his knees near the Archangel's armpits and his arms around Gabriel's hips. "I don't suppose you'd be interested in a 69."

"Not a bit," replied Gabriel. "Plus, I am significantly taller than you." He looked up and was treated to the sight of that lovely rear end. The strong muscles were zigzagged with deep purple and green-edged lines. The scrotum hung tightly behind the first blush of an erection: just the slightest, darkened swelling which hinted of arousal.

Gabriel reached up and cupped it, causing Alex to yelp in surprise.

"Easy," the Archangel murmured. He let Alex's balls rest in his palm and stroked his fingers along the shaft. To his delight, Alex filled out immediately. "I do so love that sensation."

"You're supposed to lie there!" came Alex's rebuke. But his body was relaxing as his erection filled out.

"And you're supposed to have your mouth full of cock." Gabriel continued to stroke, being gentle. After a moment or two, Alex parted his thighs wider to welcome it. With a mild sense of victory, Gabriel let go of the human's balls to concentrate on the shaft.

Meanwhile, Alex's performance did not disappoint. Without touching the slit, he pressed his lips around the glans and took it in. Gabriel sucked in a sharp breath and made himself keep still. The pressure of Alex's lips as they sank down was exquisite. They reached the corona, the widest point, then paused. They slid back up to gather more saliva. They came back down, gliding tight and smooth along the glans, to the swollen ridge of the corona, then down a little more to the neck of his cock. Gabriel moaned, letting his hands fall to the mattress.

"Good boy," he panted. It was a strain to keep still, but he knew that this blow job absolutely depended on it.

_Did Michael ever get to fuck your mouth?_ he queried, envisioning Brother standing above Alex, working his hips furiously into the boy's submissive, willing lips.

_Y-yes,_ answered Alex. _Took awhile._

_I should think so._ Gabriel exhaled, wanting so badly to push up into that moist, wonderful heat.

Alex kept going, sliding down, then sucking hard on the way back up. Gabriel could tell he was straining, though. _I-I can't take all of you from this angle,_ came his eventual apology.

_I know. Give me what you can._ Gabriel reached for the ointment. _I'm not sure I can come this way, either. It's awkward. But it feels exquisite._ He began smearing the ointment along Alex's bruises, the vicious marks he'd made with the belt. Alex squirmed—there was obviously some discomfort—but did not protest.

Gabriel kept adding ointment, far more than necessary. He smeared it between the human's legs, working it into the crack until it covered his tight pucker. Then he began to play with that, gliding his fingertip across until it started to give.

Alex's mouth at his cock faltered when Gabriel's finger slid inside.

"Relax," whispered Gabriel. "Lots of lube for you, Alex."

It was interesting to see what he was doing up close. Gabriel watched the tight muscles give way, yielding to his finger's probe. He slid in and out, eyes fixed with interest on the human's anatomy. Two fingers, then, and he spread them, seeing the ring yield and open like a flower. That caused a little cry from Alex.

"Shh," Gabriel murmured. "Won't hurt you, Alex. Let me play."

Alex was panting, now, his thighs wide-parted, his pelvis tilted. The tip of his cock brushed Gabriel's stomach, moistening it with fluid. Gabriel's cock was still in his mouth, but it was clear his attention had diverted. _Oh god, that's amazing!_ Alex groaned.

Gabriel chuckled. "What was that?" he inquired mischievously. He pushed his lubed middle finger in, smiling to himself. Easily he found the prostate through the internal skin. He rubbed it in slow, teasing circles.

Alex's pelvis jolted. _Gabriel!_ he moaned.

"Hm?" Gabriel's smile widened.

_Gabriel, what're you doing to me?_

"Not much." Gabriel glanced around Alex's leg. "Can I move my pelvis, yet, Alex?"

Alex gave a whimper.

"Hm?" He stopped rubbing. "I'm not sure I heard you."

Alex arched, pushing down against his finger inside.

"Mm. I will take that as a 'yes,' then. You can sit up, if not." Slowly—very slowly—Gabriel began to shift his pelvis upward. Alex stiffened, but Gabriel gave him several more deep, sensual thrusts with two well-lubed fingers. Alex went quiet again.

"There's a good boy," Gabriel whispered. He slid his pelvis down, and Alex sucked on cue. " _Very_ good boy!" Gabriel laughed with delight. "How long did it take Brother, by the way?"

He pushed up into Alex's mouth again, also giving him the lubed fingers. Alex stiffened but took it. Again, he withdrew, and Alex sucked. This time, the human rubbed his cock against Gabriel's belly as well.

They continued this way for several minutes, groaning, writhing. Gabriel closed his eyes, finding a rhythm that Alex matched easily. The human's body rocked against his, squeezing, milking his fingers. Oh, he wanted it. Alex wanted it _badly_. He wanted to be filled.

At the other end, Alex's mouth could not take him all, though. Not from this angle, and perhaps not without more practice. He was trying, though, Gabriel gave him that. Such good, hard sucks. And relaxation for the thrusts, to take it in. He _was_ indeed trying. And so was Gabriel, focused on his task.

That was the thing. Gabriel knew he would not climax this way; he was being too careful, concentrating too much on training the boy. Neither of them would come at this rate. But the point was, he had won the battle. Next time, Alex would let him use his mouth without throwing such a fit. And yes, Gabriel would reward him. That's how this worked.

Eventually, Gabriel withdrew his fingers, and Alex sensed the end of the exercise. He pulled his mouth away, but to Gabriel's surprise, the human nuzzled his cock. Gabriel's eyes drifted half-closed, letting himself enjoy this worship.

"That's perfect," he murmured. "You did very well."

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Alex hesitated, then slid away. In a subdued voice he whispered, "What now?"

Gabriel chuckled wickedly. "I was thinking more."

"How?"

Gabriel licked his lips. He eyed Alex's figure, already poised so pretty for him on hands and knees: slick rump covered in bruises, powerful legs parted, graceful back arched, arms holding his muscular torso high. Gabriel reared up, lubing himself with the bruise ointment.

Alex swallowed hard, watching that. "Not all the way in, okay?"

"I shall do my best."

Gabriel curled around him from behind. Ahh, the wondrous feel of skin-to-skin contact! The glory of the boy's lean muscles pressed against his. And if they tremored a bit, so much the better. He rather liked it tense and nervous.

Gabriel nudged the tingling head of his cock against that slick, well-stretched flower. Immediately Alex lowered his head, which could have been a sign of submission or despair.

Gabriel extended his wings. Like a second pair of arms, he clasped them around the human's body, clamping on to the shoulders and stroking the skin with long feathers. It could have been an act of containment, but he kept it loose. "Be a good pet, Alex."

Vaguely Alex shook his head.

Gabriel pushed in. He heard Alex's grunt, felt the immediate squeeze of tension and uneasiness.

"Be a good boy, Alex!" Gabriel then used one of his free hands to stroke the human's cock. "Here, push back against me. Find a rhythm you like. You don't have to hold still."

Alex lowered his top half, which changed the angle of everything. Gabriel adjusted, giving him free rein, but it was harder to reach the human's organ this way. He had to let go, once Alex began rocking back against him.

Something shifted, once he gave Alex some control. First, Alex pushed at his wings as if they were constraining him. Gabriel raised them high, giving him freedom.

Next, Alex dug fingers into the bed and began rocking fiercely, pushing back against Gabriel harder and harder. Gabriel pulled back somewhat, wondering where this was going. Hadn't the boy, five minutes before, asked him not to go so deep?

Lastly, Alex reached down to jack himself off. The strokes were vicious, unrelenting. His teeth were gritted, eyes closed, as if this were something he were determined to do as hard and fast as possible.

Gabriel frowned. This was not typically what he trained humans to do. He trained pets to enjoy sex, to enjoy _him_ , to be with him and savor the experience. In part, because he could ejaculate twenty times and keep going, so they needed to savor it. And in part, because he preferred to drink from their pleasure, taste their joy as they exulted in the experience.

This? This was none of that. This was raw and savage, animal fucking. This was a human trying desperately to get off, he suspected, so Gabriel would let him go and leave him alone. It was almost as if Alex were being bad on purpose.

Without a word, Gabriel took back control of the situation. He pulled out and grasped Alex firmly by the back of the neck. He pushed him flat against the bed. 

Alex gasped and tried to jerk free. "N-no!"

Gabriel didn't respond.

Through the link came a sharp spike of distress. "Gabriel, no!"

"Be still." Gabriel held him motionless until Alex stopped squirming and lay perfectly still. He did not hurt the boy, but did not let him move.

"Alexxx," he sighed finally. "What was that?"

Alex swallowed hard. "You said I could—"

"Mate like a wild beast and run away as fast as possible?"

Alex went quiet.

"We are going to try that again. This time, with you passive and not in control."

Alex closed his eyes. _Just don't fucking hurt me,_ came a fragment of thought from him. _Get it over with quick, so you can't fucking hurt me._

"Trust me," whispered Gabriel. He lay down on top of Alex, who was still flat against the bed. He parted the human's legs wider. Carefully, he nudged into that slickness, that yawning entrance which called so pitifully to be filled.

Alex sucked in a breath. Gabriel kissed the back of his shoulders. He slid in, pushing until the wide corona popped through. Alex sucked in another breath, so Gabriel kissed him again.

Through the link came pain. It hurt.

"Relax for me," breathed Gabriel. "Do not fight me. Relax into it." He began working himself in, allowing Alex's body to take the breadth of him, strain to accommodate his circumference. He could feel that strain already, and he was not deep.

"Relax," he whispered the word into Alex's ear.

"I can't." Alex rested his forehead on the bed. There was despair, now. Despair and sharp misery. "I'm fucking captive. Not submissive."

Gabriel faltered. "You're—"

"A pet. I'm nothing but a goddamned pet to you." There was defeat and anger in Alex's voice, now. "Something to be trained and fucked." 

Gabriel went still inside him. The tense pitch of those words struck him hard.

_Let me go._ Alex's voice was miserable. _I gave you oral. That was all I had._

_Damn it._ Slowly he lowered his forehead to Alex's back. "You did give me oral. And it was very good."

_Please let me go._

Gabriel reached forward. This was wrong. Very wrong. For a Dom, for a protector, for a decent angel to do. The boy didn't want to mate. No matter how badly he needed to come, this was one of those times when the boy's needs were more important than his own.

Gabriel clasped Alex's hand, which was tightly gripping the covers. He laced their fingers together. "Shh, Alex," he whispered.

Alex's head turned, ever so slightly. "What?"

"You have pleased me. I am trying to train you to enjoy doing so." Gabriel backed off, sliding out of the human's body. No, he didn't want to. He desperately wanted to pin him and claim him. But it wasn't right. Couple that with his appeals to "trust him" and it made the act a thousand times worse. "I will not ruin that with unwanted intercourse."

Alex's brow wrinkled. He pressed it to the covers.

Gabriel kissed the back of his neck and released him, rolling to one side. "I told you, Alex, that I would not rape you. I meant that. And I do, very much, want to _train_ you. Not harm you."

"Train me," muttered Alex. "You want to train me."

Gabriel got up and headed for the shower. "I have better things to do than ruin a good pet."

"I'm _not a goddamned pet_!" shouted Alex.

Gabriel shook his head. He didn't say anything, but Alex seemed very angry as he stepped into the bathroom.  
  
---


	13. Gabriel and Alex Hijack the Punishment Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated NC-17 for M/M hand-jobs, grinding, and anal sex
> 
> Gabriel punishes Alex for disrespecting him. And gets a little distracted.
> 
>  
> 
> ...Just a tad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene was supposed to be the punishment scene. And sometime in the middle of editing, Gabriel, Alex, or the both of them summarily hijacked it. I swear there was not supposed to be handjobs and consensual happy sex. But one or both of them put their foot down and said they wanted it, so... what can I do? I'm just the typist, here. (And the editor, and the provider and cookies-and-pudding, and the babysitter....)
> 
> So the punishment scene will be... next scene? *sighs* I dunno. I can't delay Michael much longer. He's starting to get bored.

**Chapter 29**

Gabriel was stretching for shower-knobs when his wing was yanked. He whirled, blades singing, claws in sharp counterpoint, but Alex had learned that lesson very well. The boy had darted back, quick as a tremolo, hands intact and lifted to spar.

"I said, I'm not your fucking _pet_!" The human's call cracked against tile, harsh and edged like the pinions now crowding the shower.

Gabriel gave a low, warning growl. For a moment he was tempted, with a cruel downward plunge, to teach what it meant to tug an Archangel's wing. But faced with this childlike defiance, he merely sniffed and flipped in his wings. The human had not even armed himself. "Go away, Alex."

"Whatever your issue is," Alex insisted, "we are dealing with this now."

Gabriel glanced down at his frustrated erection and back up at the human. "I said out! I need privacy."

Alex shook his head, flicking a finger between the two of them. "We had an agreement. Remember that? Right before I put my face in your lap and you started making happy noises."

"Irritating, Alex."

"That agreement was trust, and yeah, you were in charge, but I refuse to be just a fucktoy and pet. That wasn't the deal."

Gabriel hit the knobs and turned his back.

That made Alex more upset: "Sick of being your prisoner here, Gabe!"

"Gabriel," he grumbled, soaping up his fist before gripping his sore, denied erection.

Alex watched for a few seconds. "That . . . wow are you really . . . while I stand here?"

"Nothing you haven't seen before." Gabriel began to stroke himself in the shower spray, fist moving slowly at first, then picking up speed until it became a fierce pumping that shifted his whole pelvis. He groaned and let his eyes slip shut. Bliss began to course through him, keeping time with the smooth, soap-aided strokes. Slick squirting sounds, accompanied by his low grunts, filled the shower. Oh, god yes, he needed this!

"Look, I still need to be punished," Alex called. "Not 'trained.' Hello, not a zoo animal."

"Later," Gabriel grunted.

Alex stepped up close to him. "What do I have to do, to . . . ?" He paused as Gabriel's wing, now safely un-bladed, pushed at him. "Dammit, Gabriel!"

"Go away, boy. You had your chance."

Alex exhaled in frustration. "Punish me now, Gabriel." The words were quiet, but very serious. "Punish me like an angel."

Gabriel's eyes reopened. His eyebrows went up. His stroking slowed, and he turned to find determination burning in those light blue eyes. He concluded, "I take it you don't mean the scourge."

Slowly Alex shook his head. "I meant it when I said I'd rather be raped and beaten than treated like a dog."

Gabriel pursed his lips. "Dangerous," he breathed. But the idea settled all through him in glowing, tingling spirals. Oh, the boy wanted disciplinary mounting. Ohhh, no, he shouldn't. No, he very much shouldn't.

Yet in his mind's eye, the pretty human was already jerking beneath him, crying out at the harsh plunges of his cock. Begging to be released. Begging for mercy. Moaning as all he received was more commanding, deep plunges of unrelenting punishment.

In his hand, his organ twitched. It had been so ridiculously long since he'd come. Fuck it; the boy wanted it—no, demanded it. Fine.

Gabriel let the shower rinse him.

"Just stop treating me like a goddamn pet." Alex took a breath and tried to push him with both hands.

This time, Gabriel stood firm. He watched startlement rise in those light blue eyes at the absolute, rigid immovability. _Yes, boy. My kind is strong. When will you understand that your species is vastly inferior? You_ are _a pet. And that is the kind word for it. . . . But yes, I will allow this game._ He gave Alex a steady, almost predatory look. __

The human took an uneasy step back.

"Treat you as an angel," murmured Gabriel in a gravelly tone. "Fine, Alex. Fine." He turned off the shower with a smirk. "We start now."

Alex lifted his chin, as if in some show of bravery.

"Your safe word is 'red,'" Gabriel reminded him. "You will use it."

"If I have to."

"No," Gabriel clarified. "You _will_ use it. That's the only way I will know when you need to stop."

Alex had time to catch his breath, that was all. With a surge, Gabriel stepped forward and flung him. The human bounced off the bathroom wall and into the bedroom. Inwardly Gabriel congratulated himself: _Indeed, I've tweaked that bounce-angle just about right._

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


"Disobedience!" Gabriel declared, and grabbed a towel. "Quite a naughty topic, wouldn't you say? Angels who disobey cause havoc to their fellow feathered kind." He followed leisurely, toweling off his hair.

Alex rolled and struggled to his feet, arms trembling, strong legs digging for the flagstones. Gabriel had stunned him a bit. The Archangel let him rise, let him catch his balance and regain his dignity. When Alex slipped into a fighting stance, though, Gabriel's wings lashed out, one after the other, whipping his ankles from under him.

Alex dodged the first, but wasn't expecting the second quite where and _when_ it was. For mercy's sake, the Archangel did not reveal the blades within. Gabriel simply let him spill to the floor again, wide-eyed and surprised. Alex tucked his head as he'd been trained, though, so he didn't knock his silly skull. But when he moved to get up yet again, Gabriel planted a damp foot on the human's bare chest.

"Now, Alex," he purred. "Let us curtail the festivities. If you fight me, that only means more punishment. Be a good soldier and accept what I give you. Otherwise? Who knows what might happen."

Alex's fingers clenched, but Gabriel locked eyes with him. "I will immobilize you," he promised. "And we both know how much you like that. Hm?"

Slowly Alex's fingers relaxed. His head sank down against the stones.

"Good boy. And yes, I _do_ call my lesser soldiers, 'boy.'" He lifted his foot. "Now, get on all fours."

Alex hesitated, so Gabriel nudged him hard. Alex jolted at the impact and started to curl in as if hurt, but Gabriel nudged him again.

He clucked his tongue. "Tsk tsk, boy. Still not following orders. Might have to add that to your list of sins."

Alex groaned. He climbed reluctantly onto all fours, goosebumps rising all along his limbs. He stayed with his head down, looking unhappy. Gabriel chuckled and resisted the urge to pat that handsome, clenched backside. There was something enticing about the scrotum, hanging so helplessly, swinging when he moved. Gabriel wanted badly to caress it. Just to watch the delicate flesh crinkle and retract, just to watch Alex himself pull in and cringe back from the touch. Or better yet: to watch him grind his teeth and freeze, knowing there was nothing he could do but take it.

Alex made a quiet noise. He sucked in his belly, forming an arch on the floor. Then, to Gabriel's surprise, he parted his legs. Gabriel realized the human's dark-blushed shaft was beginning to inflate.

His eyebrows raised again. Intriguing! He had neither touched nor acted upon the impulse, yet it seemed to have reached the boy ever the same. And—oddly enough—it had stirred him to awakening. Now he was tempted to stroke, even more. And yet— "Remember this is punishment, Alex. Not play."

"You're the one in charge," the human whispered, staring straight ahead.

That gave Gabriel pause as well as warm curls of satisfaction, heavy on his chest like happy cats. _In charge, indeed,_ he mused _._ Gracefully he bent, then, wings draping to either side of that helpless form. He examined those determined eyes, the firm set of that often-rosy mouth. Stubborn, stubborn. But the boy was not taunting him, no. He meant what he said: Gabriel was in control.

Gabriel's breath now ghosted over arcane lines, fingers coasting close behind: "What's this, then?" At his throat, pulse thudded sudden, unbidden thrill. It rose higher, wilder, as the possibility grew. Yet his voice sank inversely, stirring but a single, golden curl over one pink ear: ". . . Surely you've not surrendered, boy?"

Alex's eyes flitted to him, expressionless. "I agreed to get punished," he answered carefully. "You agreed to treat me—"

"As an angel. . . . Right." Gabriel exhaled and straightened. Yes. No caresses, no fondling. Gabriel, that isn't how one treats a disobedient soldier, is it?

He reminded the boy and himself, "This is formal punishment. Prepare yourself." Then hastily he stepped away.

Behind him, Alex stiffened. It was truth Gabriel _knew_ more than saw, and the perfume of pheromones confirmed it: jagged fear, blended with the heady arousal now thick in the air.

The human's voice turned grim: "You going to scourge me?"

"No. I prefer the skin on your back as it is. Stay." Gabriel went to the bedside table. A quick rifle through, and there was the regular lube. A palm full of it—plenty for the boy. No need to rip, or tear. Punishment by power, not brutality.

He gripped himself and stifled his gasp of pleasure. No, fuck it—he gave a moan to express his hungry, too-long-repressed need. It was the boy's damned fault, anyway. He stroked the goo on gradually, shivering against his own hand. The damned stuff was chill, but so good when he needed it. 

"Nooooooo, boy, no. We won't scourge you. This is the harsher discipline of which I spoke. My soldiers don't get a mere beating, when they've proven themselves incorrigible."

"Good," grunted Alex. "Finally some respect."

Gabriel blinked, eyes going wide. He demanded: "Which of us is not treated with respect?" He descended upon the human, claws extended and erection wet. Alex's breath caught, but he stayed where he was. That halted Gabriel's charge, for the boy was obeying—as well as being rather admirably brave, he had to admit. "You will answer me, boy!"

"You heard what I said," came the quiet response. There was a tremor in it, but the human spoke clearly.

"Not too late for the scourge, I think!"

Alex bit his lip and gripped the floor. Yet again, he did not move.

Instead, Gabriel began to draw up his Presence, pulling it from deep within so that Alex could feel the pressure of it weigh upon his mind and spirit. It was heavy and thick, pushing him to submit, to show deference. Clearly he saw the human begin to droop, and that gave satisfaction. Punished like an angel, yes! The highest of his kind would kneel, when faced with an Archangel's Presence.

Alex sank down quickly, though, so Gabriel backed off until only a light pressure was upon him. This was not the time to experiment with Presence; it was powerful, and he knew from experience that it affected humans strongly. He did not want Alex to pass out, in the midst of this.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Then Gabriel laid himself against the boy's backside. It felt superb—in a primal, bestial sense—to press close, to glide his slick organ between the boy's goose-pimpled thighs, to drag his fingertips and the very-tips of his claws across that beautifully-marked skin. This was as old as time: the embrace of dominance and superiority. The symbolic act, the mounting.

That was when Alex shrank away. "If you'd—" The human shuddered, but Gabriel twitched him closer with just the barest dig of claws at his hips. "Ohhh god." Alex caught his breath. "If you'd stop treating me like an animal, Gabriel, maybe I'd respect you more. You ever think of that?"

"Force of habit," Gabriel noted. He trailed his claws harder down the boy's back, bringing up blurred-ruby lines and the sweetest, thin keen from bitten lips. Alex's body arched and shivered, but still remained where it was. Good boy.

Gabriel smiled. He watched ruby rise, bead, and trail languidly from the new marks. He kissed each, one by one, savoring the sweet-salt blessing upon his tongue. "Good, good," he whispered, intentionally avoiding "pet" or "boy." Finally he leaned over, not minding the blood smeared on his belly, and breathed in his ear: "Present yourself for me."

Alex looked askance over his shoulder, so Gabriel showed him a mental image: his top-half lowered to the floor, head down, thighs parted, wings flat to the stones in a traditional pose of submission. It was used for presenting oneself to a higher-ranking angel for mounting—or in this case, punishment.

There was no argument. Immediately Alex sank down, his pelvis as a result angling back against Gabriel's groin.

Gabriel shuddered. The immediate fire of that contact drove him to push into it, to rub, to grind. He let the Presence fade completely, marveling at how well the boy behaved, and wondering whether he would do so without it. "Perhaps you're right, Alex. You respond well, when I treat you like an angel."

For answer, Alex's hips rolled. He ground himself back against Gabriel, thighs shifting apart. It was an unmistakable, willing welcome. Even without the Presence, yes, without that powerful drive pushing his spirit to submit, he was willing to behave.

Gabriel swallowed hard at the tight, hot swell that brought, not only in his loins, but all through his gut. He had waited _how_ long for this? "Ohh, Alex," he reminded again, "this is meant to be punishment, not play." But the words had lost both volume and strength. He was aching-hard, sensitized against the soft pillows of Alex's curl-nestled scrotum and the firm planes of his inner thighs.

"Can't we do both?" Alex whispered back.

"Mm." Gabriel curled an arm under his pelvis and kissed his back. "No, you are . . . not meant to enjoy punishment." He slid a slow hand up Alex's side, playing the ribs like a xylophone, then cupping their curve in his palm. "I am about to hurt you, I'm afraid."

Alex nodded understanding. His body stiffened in Gabriel's grasp.

"But if you can obey like this, when you're _not_ being punished? You and I will have one hell of a time." Gabriel grinned, a sudden, broad expression followed by a wink.

Alex shivered. "You promise?"

"Oh, I promise." Gabriel chuckled wickedly and nipped his neck. "Why can't you just _do_ this when I ask?"

"Because you're an asshole about it."

"Mm." Gabriel nipped him again. He gripped the human's cock and gave it several slow, thorough strokes with a lube-slickened palm. Alex's organ was painfully hard, the head flared wide and swollen like a knob. He caressed just beneath that knob, making Alex moan. "Rise to your knees," he commanded.

Alex immediately reared against him, body pressed back, captive within his arms. He rested his head on Gabriel's chest, letting it roll back to his shoulder—a sign of trust, baring his throat. Gabriel touched that throat, acknowledging the trust.

He worked the human slowly, stroking, gripping—whilst deeply, secretly loving those slick, obscene sounds. Lubrication smearing across that swollen, rosy organ. Alex's gasps, his little pants as Gabriel worked him. Even the veins rose at the Archangel's command, filling and swelling to obey.

With every stroke, the human's body stiffened and writhed. And every time that fragile, human form bucked against his, Gabriel groaned. His own cock rubbed against Alex's thigh, leaking fluid freely.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


"Gabriel. Please . . . in me."

"Not much punishment," Gabriel replied. But oh god, yes, he wanted it.

Then Alex lowered himself back to all fours, and slid into the presentation pose again. Good lord, the boy learned fast!

Gabriel gazed down at him, offering himself. Ass in the air, thighs parted, hole ready and slick. It was unbearable. Simply untenable, to stand here and _not_ claim the boy. "I am supposed to be in charge," he pointed out in annoyance, even as his cock seemed to tug him like a magnet.

"Please!" Alex begged.

"That's more like it. . . ."

Alex cursed and pleaded: "Please, dammit, Gabriel, fuck me. I need it so bad. Fuck me like an angel."

"Mmmmmm, yes," Gabriel groaned. He descended upon the human, arms embracing that pale, shivering form. "I won't stretch you, either."

"I'll consider it punishment," Alex assured him.

The first push was hard. Alex did tighten, did pull away. Gabriel corrected him with a swift arm beneath the belly, pulling him back into position. His voice issued a single, stern command:

"Obey."

Alex sucked in a breath at the word. His head lowered and he went still.

"That's good," breathed Gabriel. "Very good."

Strong hands at the human's hips, then, guiding him, placing him. Gabriel thrust again. Dear _god_ the sweet kiss of his flesh! Hot and tense, welcoming but fearful. Gabriel mounted like a beast, shoving into him with a heavy pelvic thrust. He heard Alex's soft, lip-bitten cry.

He pulled backwards, letting the soft, warm flower of Alex relax. "Safe word," he reminded in a grunt.

Alex merely nodded.

So Gabriel thrust back in, sinking himself once more into the tremendous, calling heat. His pelvis began working, pushing little breaths out of Alex which evolved into soft, aching cries. He snarled, and Alex shuddered. He began to pound, using the strength of his back and buttocks, and Alex yielded beneath him.

"Please," gasped Alex. "Please—Gabriel—"

"Safe word?"

"Pre… almost-safe-word… Jesus, you're strong!"

Gabriel considered. He had never honored an "almost-safe-word" before. But as Alex knelt, shivering, with a good nine inches of him buried inside, he decided to go with it. He lifted himself slowly, pulling Alex up. "Rear up, like you were before. Less leverage for me, plus I can stroke you."

"Guess almost-safe-word should be 'pink' if the safe word is 'red,'" gasped Alex gratefully.

"Yellow," opined Gabriel. At Alex's blank look, he asked, "Don't you remember stoplights, Alex?"

Alex vaguely shook his head, then nodded. ". . . Who cares."

"Exactly." Gabriel wrapped arms around him and gripped the human's straining cock once more.

Alex moaned as Gabriel's hand locked around him. He pushed into it, but Gabriel's pelvis began controlling his movement right away. Gabriel shifted, adjusting to their new position, and pushed up into the human's squeezing heat. Alex groaned and pushed down against him, but Gabriel gripped him by the cock to control that, too.

"You do as I tell you," he breathed in Alex's ear. "You are mine, tonight."

Alex let his head roll back as before, the weight resting on Gabriel's chest and shoulder. He moaned as Gabriel's grip began to work shivers of pleasure from him, pulling them up from his core in languid, teasing tugs which quickly became more rapid strokes. Gabriel worked him in time with his own thrusts, keeping the two carefully in tandem. He timed his own rise in pleasure with the human's, keeping them locked together in more than one sense.

"Oh god," moaned Alex, once more writhing against him. This time, his motion added sensation to Gabriel's cock.

"Do not move," Gabriel instructed him. "You may squeeze me. That is all."

"That's impossible," Alex complained.

"You will do it."

Alex tried. Gabriel could tell he did, because the motions became little, abbreviated jerks and muffled groans. Gabriel hugged him about the waist, suckled his neck, and stroked him in perfect time with his own powerful, needy thrusts. Kneeling on the floor like this, he still had plenty of leverage, but he was beginning to learn to read the boy's inner signals. There was a certain clench, a grip different from the rest, that signalled when he'd pushed too deep. The first time it happened, he backed out immediately, and felt Alex exhale with relief. The second time, Alex actually whispered, "thank you" on withdrawal, so he knew it was not a fluke. He kissed the back of the boy's neck, acknowledging this, and tried to memorize how deep that feeling was. It was no good if he injured the boy in their mating; he might as well learn where "too much" began.

Gabriel let himself submerge into the pleasure. He relaxed as he realized Alex was no longer fighting him. He closed his eyes, drinking in the sensations of warm skin, willing body, eager cock ready to erupt.

"Can you hold it back?" he breathed.

Alex shook his head.

"I bet you could, if properly inspired."

"Please don't make me," Alex pleaded. "Haven't we both suffered enough of that?"

"We have," Gabriel agreed. He paused his stroking and thrusts. "You will come when I say you can, though."

"Oh _god_!" moaned Alex. "You're as bad as your brother!"

"Damned right I am." Gabriel bit his shoulder gently.

"You're torturing us _both_!"

"The more you complain. . . ."

Alex bit his lip, going silent.

Gabriel resumed his thrusts and strokes, digging his thumb intentionally into the sensitive spot beneath Alex's head as he did so. "You may come."

Alex bucked against him, taking liberties he had not given, but Gabriel let it go. A second later, he felt the rush upon him. He stiffened, giving a loud cry as his own climax landslided upon him, crushing out everything else. His body bucked out of control, pouring itself, emptying itself in hard, full-bodied spurts of hot fluid tied to his very core. It was not one release but many, linked together, making him stiffen and cry out again and again.

He felt himself subside upon the stones. He was still inside the human but softening. He felt Alex's body press close. Felt Alex pull Gabriel's arm around his belly and go still.

They both went still. Warm, sticky, complete and very satisfied, he dragged blankets and covers from the bed for a nest.

"That was _not_ punishment!" he gasped.

"I feel punished," mumbled Alex, nestled against him. "My knees do, for sure."

Gabriel kissed his neck. "Later," he gasped. "Later. Punishment."

Alex sleepily nodded.  
  
---


	14. Of Nuzzles & Nephils*, Showers & Shaves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rated NC-17 for M/M nuzzling, nudity, and anal sex.
> 
> Gabriel wakes up with Alex in an unusual mood. They cuddle, they argue. Gabriel reveals something serious about his past, but dangles the whole truth out of sight. Next, a shower and a shave, a trust-building and submissive exercise. Then romance ensues. Woohoo!
> 
> *- Yes I know the proper plural of nephil is nephilim. I was being cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having a hard time writing this. My Muses have all taken off their "Dominion" disguises, and even Gabriel has to be coaxed to put the Carl Beukes hat back on. I'm not sure what happened. I woke up about five days ago and they all had reverted to their pre-Dominion states, as if the show had never existed. Which still means they're Gabriel and Michael, of course, but.. not even remotely Beukes and Wisdom.
> 
> Luckily, big chunks of this were written before the transformation. So I filled in the blanks and stitched the parts together.
> 
> On the opposite side of the coin, I got a glimpse yesterday of what I'm pretty sure is a Julian muse. Which is odd because I... haven't written ANY Julian scenes and don't need one at the moment. O_o' Maybe because Merrells is the only actor who's even around, in Twitter anymore.
> 
> I don't know. I'll keep working to straighten this out. *rubs forehead* Maybe they just need a break. Maybe they just need more cookies and pudding. In the meantime I just have to write the scenes, myself.
> 
> Or let Julian invade the Eyrie. Hell, that might be interesting.

**Chapter 30**

Stillness piled in thick, clouded drifts upon him. Nestled close, a firm warmth stirred and sighed. Gabriel's arm contained it. He tugged it toward his chest.

In his mind's eye, he could see the boy: curls rumpled, eyes closed, body golden and luminescent in the shared mental space. The human draped himself willingly over the Archangel's chest, even stretching an arm to complete the embrace. Gabriel petted the curls, letting himself float. Vaguely he was aware of the boy nuzzling his chest, as if happy to find such a suitable pillow.

Kisses. The soft press of lips upon his breast. Those were physical, not in his mind. Gabriel sighed peacefully, relaxing in the blankets.

A weight eased onto him; his buttocks and shoulders pressed to body-warmed stones. Heavy warmth settled, then, on his belly and chest. No harmful intent, though. Instead began the slow, scruffy trail of a cheek against his jaw. Affection. Even, perhaps, homage? Very slowly Gabriel let his consciousness filter back, but did not move. There were words in his mind, echoing over and over. Advice from his Brother:

_Let him come to you._

In his mind's eye, now, the golden form was nuzzling, too. Not "shyly," no, that was not the proper word. _Uncertainly_ , as if not sure whether this were the proper thing to do—for himself, never mind the situation. For several minutes, Alex stayed in that position: head lowered, body splayed on top of Gabriel's, cheek stroking the Archangel's jaw.

Gabriel kept absolutely motionless, wary of startling the boy back to fear—or worse, more cheeky disobedience. He merely took a deep breath, raising the human on his chest, then expelled it slowly so they both sank down together. He was marveling not only in the act itself, but in how deeply such a simple thing could please him.

Alex's mental voice was quiet: _Not going to respond?_

Gabriel grunted. _I dare not move, lest I lose you like a stag into the wood of your own defiance._

Through the link came a glimmer of confusion, then hurt. _Don't tease me._ Alex started to pull away.

Gabriel's hand touched his shoulder. _Not teasing._ He opened his eyes, but Alex avoided his gaze.

_Don't,_ pleaded Alex. _Let me go._

_Let you . . . go?_ Gabriel removed his hand, bewildered. _I wasn't holding you, bo—_

_Don't call me—_

_—Alex,_ Gabriel corrected. Slowly he reached up to cup that scruffy cheek instead. He stroked it with a light, soothing thumb. _What's into you, hm? I've not hurt you._

Alex's gaze flitted to his, just for a moment then. Gabriel squinted as a handful of surface thoughts leaped across to him, without any digging at all: no, Gabriel had done the opposite of "hurt." The very opposite, and Alex wanted more.

But it rather terrified him. Gabriel was supposed to be the enemy. Gabriel was not someone to snuggle or caress. Least of all was he someone with whom you would yearn for these things. Yet Alex did. And that wasn't right.

_I see._ Slowly Gabriel exhaled. "We should finish your punishment," he whispered. "You might not like being treated as an angel, or even like me, once that is through."

"Let me decide that for myself."

"Have I mentioned," Gabriel murmured mildly, "that you are quite the stubborn little shit?"

"Have I mentioned you're an asshole?" But the words held no venom.

Gabriel regarded him. "Alex," he broached the topic, "I've no need to pretend you're an angel, just to give you gentler sex. Nor to take command of you."

"It's the only way that's worked so far."

Gabriel nodded. In a way the boy was right. Pretending Alex was an angel did allow him, Gabriel, to overstep various social mores. Sex with Angel-Alex was no longer bestiality, nor the (ab)use of an inferior creature. It was, well . . . sex.

Pity it was just pretend.

While Gabriel was lost in thought, Alex pressed close again. He dragged his cheek close to the Archangel's mouth. He rubbed back and forth there very lightly. _Please stop thinking of me as a beast,_ he breathed, and kissed the very corner of Gabriel's mouth.

Gabriel's thoughts stalled out. His eyes returned to Alex's, seeking explanation, but finding only emotion. Pleading, mostly. As if he might punish the boy for the kiss, or react with disdain, even cruelty.

Instead, Gabriel took a breath and made his whole body relax. To welcome, to engage. That would be as Brother might advise. He licked his lower lip and angled his face toward Alex.

"That was very nearly a proper kiss," he breathed.

Alex swallowed hard.

"I do not give those readily."

"I've noticed," Alex whispered. "The whole time I've been here—"

"Lie with me," Gabriel interrupted. "Touch me. Explore my body. And . . . kiss wherever you like." It was meant as an invitation, not a command. He arched his body, letting the muscles tighten and ease for Alex's gaze.

Alex's eyes widened slightly. That had not been the answer he'd expected.

"I will lie quietly," Gabriel explained, "and let you play. That is what you want, is it not?"

Alex shook his head.

"No?" Gabriel's brows drew together. "What is it that you want?"

Alex's cheeks colored. For a moment there came a flash: Gabriel on top of Alex, face to face. Claiming him. Vicious, but not hurtful. Passionate. Deep. Alex was arching, crying out, arms slipping around Gabriel's neck and holding on for dear life, legs hooking on his wings and yanking his own body upward. No pain—far from it!—but plunging, cresting, shouting and pounding passion.

Gabriel blinked several times. Well! That . . . was a rather sudden change of gears.

As soon as the vision slipped between them, though, Alex hissed, "Shit." Then Gabriel realized: that was a mistake. The boy hadn't meant to send it. Now the human rolled as if to get up, but Gabriel captured him by the wrist.

"No no no no, _no,_ my dear boy." And then he was laughing in delight, tugging on that wrist, pulling the human back down to the covers. "No, no, no. You come back here."

Alex tugged, but it was halfhearted. "Please let me go," he groaned. "I have to pee."

"You will wait a moment." Gabriel pulled him back under his control, wrapping arms firmly around and trapping him. "What's this you showed me?"

"Nothing. Please, Gabe."

"Gabriel."

"Dammit." Alex wouldn't look him in the eyes. "Just a flash of random thought. Let me go."

"Random? Unlikely." Gabriel grinned and suckled on the human's throat.

Alex squirmed. "Something I was thinking about, before you woke up and started being your regular self."

Gabriel growled playfully. He nipped Alex's shoulder, rubbing his sudden arousal against the boy's tense inner thigh. "I can make that happen," he purred. "I can even make you like it."

"No," groaned Alex. "We are _nowhere_ near that stage."

"Oh? So there are stages, now." Gabriel nipped the other shoulder, teasing him.

"Stop it." Alex struggled to get up, so Gabriel pushed down harder, trapping him anew. Beneath him, he felt Alex begin to swell.

"Ohhhh," the Archangel whispered, and his eyes began to twinkle. "You _like_ this."

"No, I don't."

"You _like_ this, Alex Lannon." Gabriel gripped his wrists and bit his throat—not hard, but enough to leave a bruise. "I'm in charge, and you like it!"

"Stop it." Alex's cheeks were burning again.

Gabriel bent down and nipped him on the chest. Alex grunted, face twisting in discomfort. "Daddy Angel is in charge," Gabriel proclaimed.

"No, with the 'daddy' thing." Alex shook his head. "Serious turn off!"

"You humans have so many hangups," complained Gabriel. He pushed himself up, erection shoving across Alex's thighs to pin the human's across that flat, golden-curled belly.

Alex sucked in a breath. "F-fuck," he hissed. "How do you get so goddamn big, so goddamn fast?"

"Practice."

The flash of a skeptical look. Then Alex tried to wriggle away again. When Gabriel pinned him harder, bringing up bruises, Alex winced. Suddenly he exclaimed angrily: "Fine, you won't let me up. I've been meaning to ask: since half the angels are your goddamn offspring . . . why is that one fucking human kid such a big deal? You know. David."

Gabriel sucked in a breath, feeling his chest—and his arousal—freeze in the icy grip of that subject change. Lord, the boy did know what buttons to push!

"That wasn't fair," he muttered, and backed off.

"I warned you I have to pee." Alex gave him a tight grin, as if it were a joke.

Gabriel pressed his lips together. "One day you may be a skilled statesman, boy."

"Don't call me 'boy.'"

"Go pee." Gabriel pulled away stiffly.

Alex hesitated as regret dawned within him. "I really want an answer, though." Then he rolled, rose, and disappeared into the bathroom.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Gabriel took a deep breath, gathered up his blankets, and flung them upon the bed. He stalked to the hallway and found clothing: his own leather armor repaired and the human's original raiment, finally washed. It was about fucking time. At last someone around here was following orders! He brought it back inside and flung it, too, upon the bed. Yes. There was a certain satisfaction in that. He looked for something else to hurl.

Alex approached cautiously. His voice was quick, expression urgent, as if there were something he must say before it escaped: "Look, back there, I didn't mean to—"

Gabriel held up a hand. He took another breath.

Alex stared at him, the urgency still in his face.

"You _did_ mean to," Gabriel corrected. "You most _certainly_ meant to. And did not give a whit what it might do."

Alex exhaled and looked down at the floor. "Right. I'm an ass."

"Do not talk about my son, Alex, except in terms of respect."

Alex nodded and whispered: "I'm sorry."

Gabriel inclined his head. He did not forgive, but let it pass. That was all.

Alex took this in, hesitated, then pressed: "Will you answer my question? Why is he so important?"

Gabriel stared over him. "Why do you care?"

Alex responded, "Because it _is_ so important. I want to know why."

Gabriel then replied carefully: "Because he is my only human son."

"Only human son," murmured Alex. He leaned back against a bookcase. "You always speak of him that way. As your son. But he was just _adopted_. Another stray pet you picked up."

Then Gabriel fixed him with a sad, serious look. "Who said anything, Alex, about David being 'adopted?'"

Alex went very still. He gripped the shelf behind him and stared at Gabriel. After a minute he blinked a few times. Finally, very quietly, he whispered, "Oh, shit."

Gabriel gave him a smile, but it was full of sorrow.

Silence sat between them for awhile. Gabriel watched Alex's mind work through the equation.

"Surprised?" spoke Gabriel at last. His voice was full of self-directed bitterness, almost cruelty. "Surprised, Alex, that the great Archangel has a monkey son? Well, now you know."

When Alex spoke, his voice was very low. "Aren't you supposed to kill them? The nephilim?"

"I am," replied Gabriel. Then turned his back and stepped into the bathroom.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Gabriel left Alex musing behind him. He had no intention of answering further questions, nor, really, thinking about the topic if he could manage it. Instead, he pulled scowls from the mirror and a straight razor from the cabinet. He sharpened the latter with expert swipes, as if the mindless act might soothe him.

Damn this shape. _Why_ did Father insist on making hair grow in inopportune places? It made absolutely no sense, to make _his_ kind do it, too. What, just to fit in?

"Come here," he ordered. "You look like a baboon."

"Baboon!" objected Alex.

"Just get in here, you monkey." Gabriel stepped into the shower, to let it soften his facial growth as well as his mood.

"Baboon, monkey, whatever." Alex strode in, fists clenched. "You angels just can't get past the whole ape thing."

Gabriel eyed him, lathering up his face. "Your mind cannot even conceive of what I truly look like, Alex. To be crammed into this miserable shape? You would never get past it, either."

"So show me."

"No." Gabriel handily dodged the boy's crude attempt to dig into his mind. "I'd rather you not sit babbling on the floor."

"Just 'cause we're descended from chimps, or whatever," Alex muttered. He stepped into the shower behind Gabriel.

"I'll thank you not to jostle my elbow." Gabriel wielded the razor. "And it wasn't chimps. It was a small, bipedal hominid. Shy but highly social." He shaved himself neatly, stripping away hair in smooth, parallel swipes.

Alex watched him. Eventually the human went for soap, but laid hands on the sandalwood kind. The smell of it got him hard almost instantly. Clearly his body remembered their training session, with the sandalwood lather and Gabriel's expert hand working him to helpless, moaning climax. Gabriel could not quite contain a low chuckle at his automatic response.

"Yeah make fun of me, thanks." Alex scowled. "You got any other soap?"

"Mammalian conditioning is a wonderful thing," whispered Gabriel, as if it were a confidential secret. He finished his shave, feeling somewhat better about the whole topic. When he was done, he stepped a little too close to Alex. When the boy shifted right, he moved forward to corner him. "Shall I continue your training?"

"What, with the soap?"

"Mm. Perhaps." Gabriel held up the razor.

Alex swallowed hard, eyes on the metal, feeling those cool tiles press against his buttocks. "So, uh, small hominids, huh. Bet you had a ball. Hunting those, shooting them out of trees."

Gabriel set the blade aside. Instead, he soaped up his hands, letting the rich sandalwood aroma rise to fill Alex's senses. "Savannah, not so many trees. And back then we did not hunt them. We watched them. Later we bred them, selectively, for things like a bigger braincase, larger larynx. You know . . . useful traits." He began making slow circles across Alex's chest, following the lines of his sleek musculature.

"Better pets," Alex concluded.

Gabriel winked. "Clever boy."

Alex shivered as Gabriel worked down his stomach. He closed his eyes, lifting his face. "Why've you gotta do this?" he whispered. "One little mistake and it's back to 'monkeys' and 'pets.'"

Gabriel's hand slowed.

Alex's eyes reopened. He stared into Gabriel's eyes. "I said I'm sorry about bringing up David."

"And I nodded."

Alex's eyes tracked back and forth across Gabriel's. "Look, I don't know what happened back then. And obviously you're not about to tell me. But I'm sorry."

Gabriel stiffened.

"No." Alex's brow wrinkled. He frowned, then slipped his arms tightly around Gabriel's body. He rested his head on Gabriel's shoulder. "Let's try this again. Don't be an asshole. I'm sorry that shit happened to you. Whatever it was."

Gabriel's mouth tightened.

So Alex squeezed him. It probably would have broken the ribs of a regular man. But Gabriel just grunted and patted the boy awkwardly. As Alex continued to hug him, finally Gabriel gave in. He curled his arms, then wings, around Alex's body and held him close. The shower poured across them both, hissing and trickling quietly.

Gabriel closed his eyes. His chest ached. It ached as it always did, when anyone mentioned David, and he remembered how unspeakably alone he was. His Father gone. His only Brother wandering god-knows-where. He had thought for sure Michael would have come to collect his swords before seeking more adventure, but no. Michael should have been here by now.

One of them began to rock, very slightly. Gabriel bent his head and pressed his face to the wet curls. It was soothing.

_It's gonna be okay,_ Alex told him.

_Alex,_ laughed Gabriel sadly, _you've no idea. You don't even know the entire tale._

_No, but I know pain fades._ Alex reached up and touched his cheek, staring up into his eyes. He looked so sweet and sincere. _I mean look at me, I've got frikkin' tattoos from my dead dad all over my skin. You think that didn't freak me out at first?_

_Your adopted father simply carried them,_ Gabriel murmured. _Our Father emblazoned them on Michael. They're_ his _._

_I don't wanna fight about that,_ Alex warned him. _I'd rather fight about pets, if we have to._

Gabriel pressed their foreheads together. _Let us fight about nothing, then._

A pleasant shiver worked through Alex. He nodded slowly.

Gabriel held on for several more minutes. This felt . . . oddly safe. What a strange word to use, but it was so. He kept his arms wrapped around this warm bundle of slickness, with his wings providing cover, water streaming down his back. The human hugged him close, nuzzling his shoulder now and then—a magical sort of motion which brought him indescribable tingles of joy. Strange, yes, but true. In the back of his mind, Gabriel was vaguely glad no one was around to see him vulnerable like this.

In the back of his mind, Gabriel was . . . vaguely starting not to give a damn.

Finally he retracted his wings. He kissed Alex's neck and returned to soaping the human's belly, enjoying the feel of silken lather against tight skin and that tempting, golden line of curls. "I will not hurt you, Alex." Gabriel kept his voice low. "Trust me. Give me control." He paused. "Listen to me, _asking_ for control instead of just taking it. You've got me all soft."

"And you've got me all hard," Alex replied.

Gabriel chuckled wickedly, stroking lower. "I love this little trail of yours."

"Yeah, me too, but it doesn't need that much washing."

Gabriel licked his lips, gazing downward. Alex's cock was swollen a deep, hungry rose, with a hint of veins along the shaft.

"Ohhh, don't tease, don't tease," breathed Alex, staring up at the ceiling. "You're not gonna be one of those Doms that gets me hard and just leaves me, are you?"

"I generally follow through. How many Doms have you had?"

"One. But I hear stories."

Gabriel glided light fingertips down Alex's cheek. "I can be very gentle, Alex. If properly inspired."

Alex grimaced. His eyes went to Gabriel's for a moment, then darted away. "Every time you say that, you hurt me like ten seconds later."

"Perhaps I'm not properly inspired?"

"Bullshit, don't push this on me."

Gabriel sank to a graceful crouch. Water poured down his back, streaming from his coccyx and testicles.

"Oh my god." Alex's entire body stiffened.

"Shh, sh sh." Lightly he cupped Alex's scrotum, evoking a gasp. "When is the last time you had a good suck?"

Alex made an uncertain sound. His cock twitched, water streaming down it to pool in Gabriel's palm.

Gabriel grinned, staring up at the human, who was now staring down at him in a mixture of uneasiness and growing lust. "Make you a deal, Alex."

"No," answered Alex immediately. His voice had an anxious tinge to it.

Gabriel tilted his head. "You did not hear the deal."

"I don't have to. Your head is full of pets and collars and me on my knees."

Damn that unnatural connection. Gabriel reluctantly nodded assent.

"We've been through this," hissed Alex. "You know I can't."

Gabriel sighed. He inclined his head, then rose smoothly. He turned his back on the boy and began shampooing his hair.

A few moments passed, then he felt a light pressure against his back. To his surprise, lean arms encircled his waist, and the stroke of lips came to his shoulder blade. Gabriel looked over his shoulder.

"That doesn't mean 'ignore me,' you know," breathed Alex. "Well, maybe in Archangel, it does."

Gabriel huffed.

Alex mocked him: "'I shall punish the mortal for rejecting my offer!'"

"That is not what I was doing."

Alex kissed his back again. "You said you wouldn't get me hard and leave me."

Gabriel frowned, working the thick, liquid foam into his hair.

Alex kissed his back again, then nipped the skin, giving a tiny spark of pain. "Think you can deal with a sub who plays like this?"

"I told you I was willing to let you play."

Alex nipped a little harder, as if testing his limits.

"You like to be a bad boy," Gabriel concluded. "See how far you get before I punish."

Alex went back to kissing, but he was smiling into the act.

"That makes it difficult, as a Dominant. Because I never know whether you are 'playing,' or whether you are being disrespectful."

Alex smiled. "If I'm breathing?" he whispered into Gabriel's wet skin. "I'm playing."

"Well, that does narrow it down," Gabriel admitted. "However, you will limit your play to when I grant permission. Just so we are clear."

"That takes the fun outta—" Alex jolted as Gabriel's wing snapped down across his backside. The blades were sheathed, but the feathers were wet and had weight to them.

Alex nibbled him again, then bit just below his shoulder blade. Again, Gabriel snapped the wing down, smacking the longest flight feathers across his buttocks.

"Shit!" yelped Alex. "You wouldn't think that would _hurt_!"

"You wouldn't, would you?" purred Gabriel. He was gazing over his shoulder, watching the boy.

"You're gonna keep doing that, as long as I bite, aren't you?"

Gabriel's voice became lofty: "I haven't granted you permission to 'play.'"

Alex bit him, then, significantly harder. Gabriel tilted his head in consideration, lifted both wings, and cracked them down against Alex's rear.

"Ow! Ow! Okay. Truce." Alex backed off, holding up one hand. "Truce, Gabriel."

Gabriel turned, then, and presented himself, full-blown erection and all. Alex was bent over, rubbing his rear, but he stopped and stared.

"Now," Gabriel proclaimed, "you may play, Alex." He tilted his head back, letting the shower spray pull lather from his hair. Clouds of white floated down his mounded chest, slid across his flat stomach, and tangled in his pubic hair. It gathered like a wreath at the root of his erection.

Alex bit his lip. He stepped up against Gabriel and glided his lips across the strong hollow of his clavicle. Then he pulled back again, as if uncertain.

Gabriel gave a pleased rumble. He returned the gesture by stroking his cheek across Alex's neck. "What's wrong, boy?" he breathed. "Did I injure you?" His fingers glided along the small of Alex's back, tugging him close again.

Alex stepped closer obediently. His eyes were full of Gabriel, but his mind was full of Michael. Michael's possessive grip on his arms, tugging him close. Michael's fierce eyes cutting into his. The taste of Michael's mouth, and the peculiar bite of the words: _You belong to me, Alex._

_Obey._ Alex had to obey. But he had to obey Michael. He belonged to Michael. Yet now he pressed closer to Gabriel, digging fingernails into his shoulder.

Gabriel cleared his throat.

Alex rested his forehead on Gabriel's chest. "Aren't you afraid of what he'd say?" And a flash of imagined-Michael, standing in the doorway. Staring in, green eyes blazing. Then Michael's imagined voice: _How dare you touch my Chosen One?_

Gabriel sighed. "You are afraid of displeasing him."

"Well, yeah. Hell, if you think _you_ standing over me, saying 'you have displeased' is difficult? Imagine him."

"Oh, I do not have to imagine it." Gabriel patted his rear, making him wince. "It is horrific. Makes you leave your stomach on the floor."

"That's . . . a really good description, actually."

"You forget I submitted to him," Gabriel murmured, and stroked Alex's curls. "His will is a terrible thing."

"Only when you go against it." Alex gave an uneasy smile.

"Yes. When you please him, well, that is paradise."

Alex swallowed hard and nodded. He took a few steps back and began washing himself, using as little of the sandalwood soap as possible.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


"It will be alright, Alex." Gabriel picked up his shaving razor. Time to try something else, to pull them both away from Michael and his control. He sharpened the blade again with deft strokes. "Do you trust me?"

Alex nodded, then shook his head. He stared at the floor. "I try. But it fails. You've hurt me."

"Fair," whispered Gabriel. He clucked his tongue. "Come here."

Alex looked at the razor, then at Gabriel's face. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not a bit." Gabriel began applying cream to Alex's face.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Alex held up a hand. "There's no way I'm letting you shave me!"

"Of course you are. Lean against the wall, so you don't jerk around."

"Gabriel! No fucking way."

"Yes, fucking way." Gabriel applied light pressure until Alex sank back against the tiles. "Consider it an exercise in trust."

"I'm not gonna—"

"Do you know how long I have been shaving, Alex?" Gabriel gave him a pointed look. "Now _do_ stop talking, so I don't nick you. Be a good boy. Yes?" He raised the razor to the boy's face.

Alex went absolutely still, eyes locked on the razor.

"Sh sh." Gabriel's hands were very steady. He let his body rest comfortably against Alex's. The blade glided down the boy's left cheek, bringing days' worth of dark blond hair with it. Gabriel tilted his head, regarding his work as he progressed. "Remember to breathe."

Alex took a breath.

"There's a good boy." He kept his voice soothing. The razor kept scraping across the boy's face, bringing away hair. The cheek, the jaw, the chin. Under the lower lip, gently tugging to get it taut. The upper lip, including the tricky parts under the nose. "Raise your head."

Alex visibly shuddered as the blade lay against his throat.

"Easy." Gabriel glided the silver blade slowly, precisely down his throat, lifting the boy's jaw now and then for a closer shave. "Easy, boy. Do you see why this is a trust-building exercise?"

Alex swallowed hard, the larynx shifting before his eyes. "Mm-hm."

Gabriel bent, then, and kissed it tenderly, traces of cream and all. "If I were going to slice your throat, handsome beast, I'd have done it well before this. Nor would I need the pretense of a shave." He released Alex, giving a half-smile. "And you are done." He set the razor aside.

Alex swallowed hard again. His eyes were a little hazy, as if Gabriel had confused him, or perhaps overwhelmed him. He stood quietly like that for at least a minute.

Gabriel gave him some mental privacy. He wasn't sure what the boy had going on, but sensed he needed a few minutes. So he soaped and rinsed himself, only glancing over now and then.

It was when he was rinsing the razor that Alex hugged him. Hastily Gabriel put the blade away, taken off-guard by the sudden, nearly crushing embrace. He wrapped his arms reflexively around Alex—he almost could not resist, given the way Alex was gripping him—and pressed his face to the top of Alex's head.

"What is it?" he whispered.

Alex just clung to him. There was a tremor in his tight muscles that spoke in lieu of his mouth.

"Hm." Gabriel reached into him, then. He stroked Alex's forehead with a thumb, to lessen the intrusion, and climbed into his mind.

There was confusion on the surface, and a great deal of conflict. But as he delved deeper, Gabriel realized nothing was actually wrong. Alex had finally relaxed; he was willing to let Gabriel have control, at least for this moment. He was not hurt. He was submissive.

Gabriel exhaled, feeling a sort of quiet triumph sweep through him.

"There's a good boy," Gabriel whispered, and Alex flinched. "Mm, force of habit." He stroked the broad forehead again, soothing.

Alex nestled into his chest. He was open, for once. Not resisting, but floating in an accepting, relaxed state. There was no pushback, when Gabriel reached in. Oh yes, he was tempted to make the boy kneel, but the point of the exercise had already been made. Alex had submitted to his blade, and trusted his hand. No need to push him beyond that. So Gabriel told him:

"You've done very well, today. I am pleased."

Alex sighed very quietly, a happy sound. Gabriel could not help but smile. He could _feel_ the simple joy radiating from him. Oh, to be able to be happy, just by pleasing someone else. He had not felt that in so long.

He let them both drift in it awhile. Inevitably, the effect began to wear off, and Alex began to return to his normal state. At last he stirred, rubbing his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Gabriel murmured.

Alex nodded shakily. "Let's um. Let's not tell Michael about that."

"Tell Michael about what?" inquired Gabriel innocently.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Alex took a breath, then slipped his wet arms around Gabriel's neck. "Gabe, go back to 'angels.' Not 'pets.'"

Gabriel looked down. "Alex, you're not—"

"Just pretend. I need it."

Gabriel frowned.

"It's the only time you've ever treated me fairly. And god, it gets me hot. I'll be submissive, but let me be an angel, not an animal, to you."

Gabriel closed his eyes. The water poured across him, streaming down his hair and skin in warm torrents. He could feel the rivulet forming where Alex's linked fists interrupted the flow, bringing chaos to the pattern, making the smooth rain of the shower into a new and strange—but interesting—sequence.

His kind would never tolerate such games. He could overrule the objectors, of course, but sooner or later, he would be challenged. That would mean a fight. Probably several. He'd defended his rank before but it could be exhausting, depending on how many stood against him.

And with Michael missing, that meant he would stand alone. He and his pretend-angel, Alex. Who would be the first target, truly, not him. They would bring him the boy's head . . . or other body parts, depending on how cruel their mood.

"What is it that you said, Alex?" he murmured. "'When you die, shit stops hurting?' But I am immortal."

Alex shook his head. "Seriously? You took this into a pity-party?"

Gabriel scowled.

"I am _so_ not gonna let you get away with that," Alex whispered. He leaned in suddenly, his body tense and hot. Gabriel's eyebrows rose at the first brush of those bitten, pink lips against his own. It was tentative, lips tugging and pausing as if waiting for some response. When he got none, Alex nipped at Gabriel's lower lip.

_You cheeky little bastard,_ thought Gabriel in amazement. Then he did indeed respond.

He shifted his weight forward, pelvis trapping the human against cool tile. A low gasp escaped Alex. Both of Gabriel's hands rose to capture that jaw, to hold that grinning mouth in place. Then he descended.

Plunging. An immediate deluge of thick, flooding need. They were both overtaken instantly, flushed into deep, drowning passion. Arousal percolated through them in thick, slow bubbles but the only true movement was their bodies, locked together, shifting in rhythm with the fierce, almost desperate kiss. Gabriel let his power flow, raw and wide-open, not bothering to shield Alex. The boy wanted to mate like an angel? Well. . . .

It sent shudders through Alex. His body was heated, strong chest panting quick beneath the gleam of spray. Low sounds escaped him like wounded cries. He dug fingernails into Gabriel's arms, drawing blood, but there was no attempt to escape.

After several minutes, Alex came up for air. Gabriel held him pinned, knowing instinctively there was no strength in his knees, and yes—Alex slid against the tiles for a moment, wide-eyed.

"Holy fuck, Gabriel, what was that?" he gasped.

"Too much?" Gabriel could not help but smirk.

Alex swallowed hard. "What _was_ that?"

Gabriel pressed their foreheads together. "Forgive me," he murmured. "I've been lonely."

"That wasn't 'lonely,'" objected Alex. "That was wayyyy on the other end of the scale."

"Mm." Gabriel kissed his forehead lightly. "I shall hold it back."

"N-no, no, no! Don't do that!" Alex reached for his shoulders. "I can't breathe when it's going but damn don't hold it back."

Gabriel drew a slow finger down Alex's chest. "I'd rather you breathed."

For answer, Alex leaned forward and kissed him again, but gently. "Don't stop."

Gabriel gave a dark grin. "Are you certain? At this rate you may not survive the mating."

"Best way to die I can imagine."

"Fine. Got your legs under you?" Gabriel backed off, releasing him from the tiles.

Immediately Alex slipped, landing on his rear.

". . . I suppose not," Gabriel observed.

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Alex grimaced and reached for a hand up. "Here or the bed?"

Gabriel had no intention of drying himself, journeying to the bed, messing with lube, and so on. With a surge, he bent and pulled Alex back up. He pinned the human against the tiles, groin to groin, and grinned. "Soap, Alex." Then he locked his eager mouth once more against the human's.

It took Alex a full minute and a half to realize Gabriel wanted the soap, and another thirty seconds to find it. He grabbed blindly at the shower-wall while his body rode the rolling, slick, gliding desire that was Gabriel. The Archangel's kisses were fierce, swallowing Alex's, consuming them as if there were no other sustenance in the world. When finally the soap came into play, the Archangel pulled back only enough to mumble, "Prepare me."

Alex did so with trembling hands, eyes flitting between Gabriel's face and cock as if making sure he was doing it right. Gabriel took a breath to cool himself, to let the need fade a bit, but the smooth strokes of Alex's lathered hand heightened it all over again.

"Oh god," he moaned. "Alexxx, what am I to do with you?"

"I've got some ideas." Alex flashed him a cocky grin.

"Mm. Like angels," Gabriel replied. "Let's see how deep you can take it."

Alex's grin became challenging. "Let's see how deep you can get it."

"Brace your back against the wall. Wrap a leg around my waist. Good." Gabriel shifted forward, holding Alex up against him. Then he was probing, eager and greedy, slick cock pushing, seeking that warm, waiting crevice. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to hold back his hunger and his nearly overwhelming need to _possess_ this willing creature.

The tip of his cock found what it needed. Gabriel caught his breath. "Push down," he instructed, and thrust upward.

Alex tensed. Gabriel parted him, sliding inward, but Alex's body stiffened in Gabriel's arms.

"Shh, sh sh," Gabriel whispered. "No, no." He came in for a gentler kiss, lips stroking Alex's, gliding across in soft, enticing pulls. _Relax. Relax for me._

Alex made a quiet noise. He was hurting. The position was uncomfortable and Gabriel was too damned thick. All this passed between them in bursts of sharp clarity.

Gabriel pulled Alex against him in a hug. _Submit. Submit to me._

Alex shuddered against him but nodded.

_It is my will that you relax and take this,_ Gabriel whispered to him. He also reached in mentally, with gentle touch, to relax Alex's muscles for him.

"Cheating," panted Alex.

"Helping," replied Gabriel. "Next time, more soap."

"Next time, more _stretching_."

Gabriel kissed him again. _You feel wonderful inside._

Alex responded with a groan. His mouth firmed against Gabriel's and he began to rock, subtly at first, against his pelvis.

Gabriel purred into his mouth. He began to match those movements with light thrusts of his own. The water pouring down his back was warm, soothing. He took up a slow rhythm, body curling itself beneath the human's as they began to mate in earnest.

Alex hesitated, then lifted his second leg off the floor. Gabriel held him securely with both arms and organ. Alex grinned into the kiss. _You got me, Super-angel?_

_Bit late to ask. . . ._

Alex wrapped his leg around Gabriel's waist like the first. He began to push down on Gabriel's cock, seeking more.

Gabriel growled happily and gave it to him, working his pelvis for deeper thrusts. He had only a little leverage in this position, which was a good thing for Alex, because he was swept up entirely in possessive desire.

Alex hugged him tightly around the neck. His own body writhed and surged against Gabriel's. Now, every time he pushed down, Gabriel slid a bit deeper. Alex leaned back against the wall, moaning as every thrust pushed pleasure deep inside his heat.

Gabriel closed his eyes. There was a tight ring which marked the boundary between him and Alex. It yielded to him, parting at his demand. Beyond it was ecstasy, in soft, enfolding warmth. He worked his way deeper inside it until he felt that now-familiar clenching begin.

_Too much,_ he murmured.

_Y-yeah,_ panted Alex. _How'd you know?_

_Practice._ Gabriel grinned and winked at the boy. Then he pulled back, focusing instead on dragging his head quite intentionally, prominently, and gloriously across the sensitive lump of Alex's helpless prostate. Against him, Alex began to cry out and buck.

"Much better," he growled against the human's mouth.

"Oh god!" cried Alex. "Oh god, Gabe, let me come."

Gabriel gave a wicked chuckle. "You remembered!"

"Don't tease," Alex begged.

Gabriel kissed him once more, plunging them both back into the passion, the surging desire. _You may come,_ he granted permission, feeling his own climax surge at the issuance of command.

Against him, Alex bucked wildly. He cried out into the kiss then arched sharply, his pelvis shoving itself down upon Gabriel as if they might never be parted. At the same time, Gabriel growled, gripped him by the hips, and drove up inside him. The release was quick and hot, in thick, pressurized spurts that Alex could no doubt feel against his insides.

Afterward he sank to his knees, with Alex balanced on his thighs. He rested his head on Alex's shoulder and held him close, breathing deeply.

"Dear god," he whispered. "What have you done to me, b—Alex."

"'Bout the same as you've done to me, I think," panted Alex. "Except I haven't stuck a giant cock up your ass."

"Give it time." Gabriel kissed the side of his neck. "Although, this is not how I intended to spend the afternoon."

"No? But man, I'm glad we did."

Gabriel held him close. "I need to feed you."

The idea seemed to surprise Alex. "Yeah, I guess so. When's the last time I ate?"

Gabriel shook his head. "I've no idea."

"Well, let's go do that, then." Before he got up, though, Alex sought another kiss: a gentle, lingering one. Gabriel gave it, allowing him to pull softly and stroke with his lips. Alex's mouth was tender, almost shy, as if seeking reassurance that their encounter in the shower had not been just the once. Gabriel kissed back, equally tender, giving him that reassurance.

The boy was becoming tame, bit by bit. But unfortunately, it seemed . . . so was he.  
  
---


End file.
